The Sweet Taste of Tangerines
by DatHeetJoella
Summary: The most important moments of the development of Makoto and Haruka's relationship tied together by a piece of fruit. - Soulmate AU, written for rosieharu on Tumblr for the MakoHaru Gift Exchange Summer 2018
1. 4 & 5

**A/N: Happy MakoHaru Gift Exchange Summer 2018 to my recipient, rosieharu! When I read in your request that you liked soulmate AUs, I knew I had to write one because I love soulmate AUs so much, so I really hope you like this.**

 **I do have to mention the fact that this work is a multichapter: it was originally written as a one-shot, but because of some unforeseen circumstances I realised I wouldn't be able to complete the entire work in time. Knowing that, I decided to split it up into five parts because I didn't just want to sweep this entire fic off the table and give you something shorter and less time-consuming instead. When I made this decision, I realised that despite this fic being written as a one-shot, it would be a little much to read as a one-shot because of the length it will most likely reach, and that paired with the fact that this fic has some significant time skips, I feel like splitting this fic up would be the best decision regardless of time issues.**

 **That being said, the story was originally written as a one-shot and therefore the narration kind of blends the separate scenes together. I'm sorry if it seems like the chapters start and cut off at an odd place, but I did my best to divide them in the most logical way. I'm going to try my best to update this as quickly as possible, hopefully once a week, but with the uncertainty of life I can't promise anything.**

 **Anyway, I don't know if I'm forgetting anything right now, I probably am, but I have rambled enough for now. I really hope you'll all enjoy this, rosieharu especially! ^^**

* * *

The sun was shining brightly, hot rays beaming down to illuminate the land, but Makoto was sitting safely in the shadow on the back porch, excitedly swinging his little legs beneath him. Summer vacation had just started and he could barely contain his enthusiasm for all the adventures that were still unknown yet that were undoubtedly going to take place over the course of the next few weeks. Butterflies of anticipation were roaming through his belly because he knew that no matter what they were going to do, it was going to be so much fun. Maybe his parents would take him fishing sometime, or maybe they would even go to an amusement park together with his grandparents. The possibilities were endless and Makoto already couldn't wait.

"Here, Mako-chan."

The warm voice of his mother pulled him from his pondering and he looked up at her. She smiled softly at him before she handed him a small bowl filled with slices of tangerine that she just peeled and he eagerly accepted it. "Thanks!" he said with a wide grin and he didn't waste a second before grabbing one of the pieces and biting into it. The sweet taste immediately spread through his mouth and he closed his eyes in delight as he happily munched on his fruity treat.

Although summer wasn't exactly the peak season for tangerines, Makoto's sweet tooth caused for him to have a very particular preference when it came to fruits and vegetables. There weren't many types that he liked yet, but his parents still wanted him to get his vitamins from as many different sources as possible and if buying off-season tangerines that were a tad more expensive than they were in the winter was the way to accomplish this, then they'd gladly do it. Anything for their little sweetheart.

As with most things, Makoto was far too young to be aware of this and simply enjoyed the warm afternoon with the refreshing piece of fruit. To revel in this moment with her son to the fullest, Mrs. Tachibana sat down beside him and she gently stroked her hand through his hair to get it out of his face a bit.

Silence wrapped around them, the gentle summer breeze sweeping along the rays of sunshine to brush against their toes and the familiar scent of the ocean only added to the overall atmosphere of tranquility. Yet Mrs. Tachibana detected that there wasn't solely tranquility in the air; a small buzz of jitteriness disturbed the calmness and she couldn't help but note that it was coming from right beside her. Although it wasn't odd for Makoto to be energetic and enthusiastic, especially considering his first summer vacation since starting kindergarten had just begun, right then he was emitting a certain kind of restlessness that she had never felt coming from him before.

Makoto himself didn't seem to be very bothered by it, if he had even acknowledged it at all, which only made her more curious. He didn't even notice his mother's eyes on him; he simply lifted another slice to his mouth and sank his teeth in it, chewing thoughtlessly. Watching him closely did pay off, since she was able to catch even the smallest shift in his demeanour and that immediately explained the unusual vibe.

When Makoto was about to put the second half of the piece into his mouth, he halted because he felt strange tingles on the inside of his left wrist. This foreign sensation caught Makoto's full attention and the tangerine piece in his hand was completely forgotten as he peered at his skin, mouth still hanging open. Slowly, the outline of what looked like a small fish formed on his wrist, making him gasp softly in surprise while simultaneously making his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

Unlike Makoto, his mother was well-aware of what was going on and it took all of her strength to repress her chuckles at his cute face. Deciding to play along, she innocently asked, "Is something wrong, Mako-chan?"

"Mommy, look!" Makoto exclaimed as he held out his arm to show her. "There's a fish on my arm!"

A gentle smile graced her features as she admired the drawing on her son's arm. Having known that this day would inevitably come, she had always wondered what the first word or image that appeared on her little boy's skin would be. Judging by the look of the small black fish, Makoto's soulmate was assumably around his age, perhaps a tiny bit older. Regardless, it was absolutely adorable and it warmed her heart, already feeling excited on her son's behalf. "That's a drawing your soulmate made."

Green eyes widened in a mix of curiosity, astonishment, and lingering confusion. "My soulmate?"

"Yes," Mrs. Tachibana affirmed with her unwavering smile, "I've told you about soulmates before, remember? We all have a soulmate, someone who will always be there for us; who will love us and support us no matter what."

"Oh yeah!" Makoto said, a small flame of recognition lighting up in his eyes. "Like you and Daddy, and Grandma and Grandpa, right?"

"That's right," she replied, unable to suppress a tiny snort of amusement at his sudden interest. Although she knew that children's minds were like sponges and could rapidly absorb and retain information, it honestly wouldn't have surprised her if Makoto hadn't remembered it since it wasn't like they had ever had a formal talk about it before, just some off-handed mentions whenever the situation called for them. "Anything we draw or write on our skin will automatically appear on their skin as well."

Upon hearing those words, Makoto averted his gaze to look at the drawing again before he looked back up at his mother. "Why is that?"

Inquisitive as always, but Mrs. Tachibana couldn't exactly say that she minded it. On the contrary, she would gladly feed his curiosity, though it wasn't like she had the answers to all of the universe's countless questions. Still, just because she didn't, that didn't mean that she couldn't try to explain things the way she saw them.

"I don't really know," she started truthfully, since the science behind the whole soulmate-aspect of life hadn't exactly been uncovered just yet. But for things that were yet to be discovered by science, folklore was born to explain the inexplicable. "It's said that people are made two at a time and that is why soulmates exist. And with our soulmate, our soul is shared, our hearts are connected, and our skin is linked."

"I see," Makoto mumbled under his breath and she could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to comprehend what she had told him. When he had processed her words and interpreted them in the most logical way to him, he asked, "So if I fall and hurt my knee, their knee will hurt too?"

That made Mrs. Tachibana laugh lightly. "No, it doesn't work like that."

"But our skin is linked, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," she muttered, trying to figure out how to appease her son's curiosity as much as she could without sweeping it under the rug. After all, he did raise a valid point. Unfortunately, not everything that existed and happened automatically made sense per definition, and this subject was no exception. Not wanting to get too far into a topic that was already complicated enough as it was, she reasoned it wasn't too bad to keep things light for now. So she simply shrugged and said, "But we wouldn't want our soulmate to be in pain just because we have pain, right?"

"Of course not!" Makoto immediately blurted, not wanting his mother to think that he meant it that way. The fact that there was someone out there, someone who he hadn't even met yet, who would always be there for him and who loved him no matter what made him feel warm and cherished and special, and he wouldn't ever want to take their kindness for granted like that. If anything, it made him want to do something back for them. "But if they hurt their knee and sharing it with me made it hurt less for them, then I'd do it!"

The sincerity was vibrant in his eyes and Mrs. Tachibana swore she could feel her heart melting on the spot. "That's very kind of you, Mako-chan," she said, her smile softening even further in affection, "but I think your soulmate wouldn't want you to be in pain for them either. Look, they even drew a fish on their wrist to catch your attention," she trailed off despite there not really being any correlation between the two, because she saw it as a good opportunity to divert the conversation from the topic of how soulmates worked back to her son's actual soulmate. "Why don't you draw something too so they know you saw it?"

That suggestion made Makoto light up, like he had never even considered the possibility of drawing something back and he beamed an agreement. It was at that moment that he remembered the piece of tangerine in his hand and he quickly popped it into his mouth before he jumped up and ran back inside to look for the nearest pen or pencil. The first thing he found was a blue marker from when he was colouring before that he had apparently missed when he had put the others away. Deeming it good enough, he grabbed it before bolting right back outside to where his mother was waiting.

The remaining tangerine wedges were completely forgotten as Makoto sat back down on the porch and uncapped the marker. Staring at the little black fish outline on his wrist, Makoto wondered what he should draw in return. Usually he would have asked his mother for her input, but there was something inside of him that refrained him from doing so now; a quiet voice in the back of his head that urged him to think of something himself. And although his imagination was very vivid and colourful, he now had a little more trouble coming up with ideas of what he could draw and he didn't know why. It was most likely the unconscious need to give his soulmate a good first impression of him - after all, he wouldn't want them to think his drawing was silly or stupid - but the whole concept of having a soulmate and being able to communicate with them via his skin was far too exciting to make his insecurities bubble up into the foreground of his mind.

After a few seconds of deep contemplation, Makoto decided that he would draw a little fish too. He wouldn't want the fish that his soulmate drew to get lonely, so if he drew a fish alongside of it, they could be friends! Two friends swimming together in the ocean of their linked skin. It sounded like a great idea, because Makoto really wanted his soulmate to be his friend too and he couldn't think of a better way to accomplish it than this.

Mind made up, Makoto put the marker down on his wrist and scribbled on his skin. Now there were two fish on his arm; one black and the other blue, roughly the same size with the exception of the blue fish's lines being a little thicker. Granted, Makoto's fish wasn't as pretty as the one his soulmate drew - his soulmate's fish looked very nice while drawing had never been his strongest point - and in any other situation, that would have made him feel a bit embarrassed and maybe even a bit inferior. But there wasn't any time for those emotions to well up because it only took another second for the tingles to return and another fish-outline appeared on the other side of Makoto's blue fish.

"Mommy, look!" he yelped excitedly, "They drew another fish!"

Before Mrs. Tachibana even had the chance to look, let alone respond, Makoto had already withdrawn his arm in favour of scribbling a fish in return. His eagerness about the whole situation made her smile once more and she reached up her hand to ruffle his brown locks again. She understood the overwhelming surge of emotion very well, since she remembered herself having been just as excited when she first experienced the skin-link between her future husband and herself. Now she only hoped that Makoto's soulmate would be just as wonderful and kind to him as his father always was to her. Though something inside her gut told her that wouldn't be an issue in the slightest.

It didn't take long until his soulmate had drawn another fish in response and soon they were taking turns doodling on their arms, always waiting for the other to finish before they drew another one themselves. In the meanwhile Makoto asked his mother all kinds of questions about his soulmate's identity. They were mostly rhetorical because he understood that his mother didn't know who they were yet either, but he felt the need to express and vocalise his wonders and Mrs. Tachibana merrily chatted along with him. She said that whoever they were, they were certainly right-handed too since they were both drawing on their left arms, they were assumably around his age, and they apparently loved to draw fish.

There weren't many things that Makoto knew about his soulmate, but there was one thing he knew for sure. Although he hadn't met them yet, he already loved them with all his heart.

As the afternoon progressed, more and more parts of his skin were covered in black and blue ink. Throughout the entire process, not once did his elation waver when he felt the tingles that were quickly growing to be familiar on the next part of his arm and another little fish appeared in their school. After a while, Makoto noticed that they were running out of skin and that concerned him. He didn't want his soulmate to think that he was ignoring them, so he pondered on what he should do to solve this issue.

It was his turn to draw again and his eyes wandered back to the very first fish that had appeared on the inside of his wrist. Even in the sea of all the other little fish, Makoto knew that this was the first one and simply looking at it spread a funny feeling through his tummy. Although he loved every single one that his soulmate had drawn, this fish was special and he thought it therefore deserved that bit of extra attention and care.

Suddenly, he knew what to do. Drawing had never been his strongest point, but he was much better at colouring. So he put his marker down in the middle of the outline and coloured it in, trying his very best to stay within the lines that his soulmate had put down for him. When he pulled away to observe his work, he saw that he had accidentally skimmed over the lines a bit, but it wasn't _too_ bad so he was pretty satisfied with it. Now he only hoped that his soulmate would also like it.

He didn't have to wait long until he felt an eye and a mouth appear on the fish and an enormous smile stretched his own mouth at the sight of it. But before he had the chance to respond, his soulmate did what they hadn't done before: they didn't wait for Makoto's turn, but instead drew a black outline around the blue fish right next to it, the first one that Makoto had drawn. This only made Makoto more ecstatic, knowing that they were on the same page, and he coloured the fish in completely before his soulmate added the facial features on this fish too.

And that was how they continued; his soulmate would draw a black outline wherever it was needed, Makoto coloured it in and then his soulmate would give the fish a kind expression. They easily fell into this rhythm, a comfortable pace they established without any further communication. Like two bodies in perfect harmony. Because of this, Makoto didn't have a hard time believing that what his mother had told him earlier was true, about his soulmate and he having been created at the same time, because he had never felt this connected to someone before in his life and he hadn't even met them yet; he hadn't met them yet, but he felt like he knew and understood them like no other.

There was not a single doubt in his mind. His soulmate and he were meant to be.

When his father came home from work later that day, Makoto didn't waste a second before he jumped up to greet him at the door. "Daddy, Daddy! Guess what?" he yelled excitedly, immediately babbling on without giving his father a chance to mutter as much as a greeting, "My soulmate drew a fish on their arm so I drew a fish too and then they drew another one and we spent the entire afternoon drawing fish but then there was no skin left to draw on so-"

"Woah, woah!" Mr. Tachibana interrupted with a hearty chuckle. "Slow down a little, Mako-chan," he said as he put on his slippers and stepped out of the genkan and he lifted his son into his arms. "Let's go inside so we can sit down and then you can tell me all about your soulmate and the fish."

Makoto nodded in agreement and wrapped his arms around his father's neck as he allowed him to carry him inside, grin from ear to ear still plastered on his adorable face. When Mr. Tachibana entered the living room, he quickly greeted his wife with a kiss on her cheek and then he pulled out a chair and sat down, placing Makoto in his lap. Knowing that he couldn't wait any longer, Mr. Tachibana smiled at him again and asked him what had happened.

The enthusiasm from earlier had lingered and Makoto gave his father a rundown of the entire afternoon with the same kind of fervor that had been buzzing through his body all day. Some parts were told out of order and a little incohesively, but Mr. Tachibana just let him go on without asking for an explanation and just added some commentary whenever it was needed as he admired the handiwork of his son and his soulmate. It wasn't too hard to put the pieces of the puzzle together himself, and he would ask his wife later to fill in the gaps of Makoto's story that were too unclear to make his own conclusions on.

"Did you take pictures?" Mr. Tachibana offhandedly asked his wife once she sat down at the table with them.

"Of course I did," she answered without missing a beat. After all, the first interaction between soulmates was special and it would be a shame if such a memory went lost without documentation or commemoration, especially since Makoto was still so young. "But unfortunately I didn't get the chance until they were done so I only have pictures of the end result."

"Oh yeah!" Makoto piped in, "When all the fish were done, they drew a smiley face on their hand, and I thought that was weird since we were only drawing fish with smiles, so I drew a smiley face too, look!" He pointed at the two little faces on the palm of his hand. "And then they didn't draw anything anymore, so I think that they had to stop and told me with the smiley face."

"That's very nice of them; they probably didn't want you to think they were ignoring you," his father remarked, running his fingertips over the faces on Makoto's tiny palm, enticing soft giggles from his lips.

"Daddy, that tickles!"

Always in for a bit of teasing, Mr. Tachibana mumbled, "Oh really? You know what also tickles?" When Makoto looked up at him with large, questioning eyes he said, "This!" and started to tickle him with one hand while holding him with the other to ensure he wouldn't fall off his lap or hurt himself otherwise.

Almost immediately loud laughter erupted from Makoto's belly and he frantically tried to swat his father's hand away from his side. "Daddy, stop!" he pleaded through his squealing giggles, and Mr. Tachibana only continued for a few more seconds until he granted him mercy. He was only in the mood for _a bit_ of teasing after all.

"They probably had to go eat dinner," Makoto's mother cut in, directing the attention back to the subject from before the little tickling intermission, "and we do too, so if you both can go wash your hands then dinner will be served in a second!"

The promise of Mrs. Tachibana's delightful cooking was enough to snap both father and son back to attention and they instantly got up to do as they were told.

But no matter how delicious the food that his mother had prepared was, Makoto found his thoughts continuously drifting off during dinner, completely missing the conversation his parents were trying to engage him in because he was too preoccupied with staring at the ocean on his arm. After a few attempts his parents decided to let him be, though his mother did remind him of the steadily declining temperature of his food if he didn't finish it soon. They didn't think much more of it because they perfectly understood Makoto's fascination and the overwhelming emotion that came along with the first buds of affection for his soulmate sprouting inside his heart. Knowing that these buds would only multiply and blossom throughout the future, they let him process this new experience by himself, the way he needed to.

This was a very special day for Makoto, but it certainly was for them too. Their son, the personification of their love and the fruit of their soulbond, was going to develop a relationship like theirs with a person whose identity was yet to be revealed, yet who was undoubtedly someone who complimented Makoto in every aspect. Even though it was destined to be like that since their creation, it was truly beginning now.

And seeing these early beginnings playing out before them made them reminisce about their own start, from the first interaction to the first meeting when the fully-bloomed flowers inside them first began to grow. Although neither of them had said anything aloud, one look from brown to green confirmed their shared thoughts and matching smiles of adoration for both each other and their little boy naturally stretched their lips.

Their ride on this emotional rollercoaster had reached a place where it was steady, high up in the air with their heads in the clouds as they enjoyed their everyday lives standing side by side, truly together in every sense of the word. But Makoto had just gotten on, he hadn't even fully left the station yet and the ride ahead of him was completely unknown. Regardless, he was excited, filled with childlike oblivion towards the bumps and sharp turns that might be waiting on him and only saw the clouds in the sky where his parents resided.

Of course, it wasn't that simple; the relationship with your soulmate wasn't automatically all sunshine and rainbows just because you were meant to be together. In reality, there were still a lot of hardships that could put strain on even the strongest of bonds and there had to be conscious effort and devotion from all the involved parties in order to coexist lovingly and peacefully, the way that was intended. But once that balance was found and maintained, it was nothing short of absolutely wonderful, a relationship in which both parties brought out the best in each other and in themselves. An inviolable sanctuary built on unconditional love and support, of mutual respect and dedication.

Even though their blindfolds were still on in regards to Makoto's rollercoaster ride and they couldn't do anything but wait until they were taken off, as they watched the elated smile that was painted on his face as he studied the artwork on his arm, something told Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana that Makoto and his soulmate were going to be just fine. And they were so excited to be spectators of their son's journey.

But then the bright, rosy-coloured vision of the future was tainted when they heard a small gasp escape Makoto's lips and the jubilation he emitted vanished within a second and made place for a concerned, almost pained frown.

"Mako-chan, what's wrong?" his father asked, unable to keep his voice clear from worry at the sudden shift in his little boy's demeanour.

"It's gone!" he said as he held out his arm so his parents could see, completely distraught. "It's all going away!"

The outline of the little fish on the inside of Makoto's left wrist that had started it all was gone and the other black lines that adorned his skin were rapidly fading away until nothing but the blue insides remained.

As she saw tears welling up in those lively green eyes, Mrs. Tachibana realised she had forgotten to tell Makoto that unlike on paper, the drawings made on skin weren't permanent. "It's alright, Mako-chan," she tried to console him, "that just means they're taking a bath right now. This is normal."

"But I don't want it to go away," Makoto protested. The precious fish that his soulmate and he had spent so much time on were special to him, it was the proof of their connection and a sign that somewhere out there, his soulmate existed and was thinking of him. Although he had only known about it for a few hours, the thought if it disappearing again was harrowing and made him feel cold and empty inside.

"I understand that," his mother murmured as she got up from her seat and walked over to him to comfort him. She lifted him up and took place in his chair so she could hold him against her chest. "But if it never goes away, then you can never draw something new. Wouldn't it be sad if you couldn't talk to them like this anymore because your skin was all full?"

"Yeah," he agreed as he sniffed deeply, trying his best to keep his tears from spilling over, "but still."

"Just because you can't see the lines anymore, that doesn't mean they're not there," Mrs. Tachibana tried, putting him down in her lap so she could look him in the eyes. "They'll always stay with you, right here," she said as she tapped the tip of her finger against his chest, "in your heart. The fish that you and your soulmate drew will live on forever inside of you."

"But if you still want to see the lines," Mr. Tachibana added, "then you can take a picture of it so you can look at it whenever you want."

"Really?" Makoto questioned, sounding a lot more hopeful yet with some remnants of doubt coating his voice.

"Really," his mother affirmed, smiling gently at him before lightly kissing his temple as she wiped a stray tear from his cheek. "So how about we finish dinner now and then I'll show you the pictures of the fish after dinner. And then I'll make you a bath too just like your soulmate had, and then you can draw something new for them tomorrow, alright?"

Those words seemed to have impact as a small smile appeared on his face again when his soulmate was mentioned, and the smile morphed into a wide grin at the notion of being able to draw something for them again. "Alright!" he echoed, and his mother pressed another kiss against his head before she got up and put him down in the chair again.

Makoto had never finished his dinner as quickly as he did that night.

But when the need for seeing pictures of the ocean on his arm in its original state was satiated and Mrs. Tachibana was giving Makoto a bath, she realised that in her eagerness and excitement on her son's behalf, she had made a mistake.

As she ran a washcloth over his arm, the blue smudges that covered it weren't disappearing, they were only growing a little vaguer. Instead of grabbing a pen or marker that was designed for skin-use like his soulmate had done, Makoto had used one of his regular markers and those wouldn't immediately wash away with just some water and soap. She should have informed him about it, but she had honestly forgotten in the heat of the moment and while Makoto didn't mind it in the slightest, she still felt guilty. Therefore, she sent a mental apology to Makoto's soulmate and their family for her stupidity.

Now she only hoped that her error wouldn't negatively influence anyone's view on her son.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!**

 **It's been a little while since I've posted anything and that makes me a little anxious so if you liked this fic, any comments and kudos are appreciated! ^^**

 **I have a lot to say about this universe, but since I've already rambled enough in these notes, I'll save it up for the upcoming chapters when they're a little more applicable, haha.**

 **Please make sure to check out all the work that the other amazing creators made who participated in this gift exchange by looking up the tag #mhgiftexchange2018 on Tumblr.**

 **You can find me on Tumblr and Twitter as DatHeetJoella if you want to see updates on my work or if you just want to chat about MakoHaru!**

 **Thank you once again, I hope to see you at the future updates and for now I wish you all a lovely day!**


	2. 6

**A/N: Hi again! I'm so sorry it took this long to get this out; I was hoping to get it out much quicker but then some stuff happened as always that got in the way and delayed this, but here it is at last! Once again, I can't promise anything in terms of when the next chapter will come out, but hopefully very soon.**

 **The only other thing I want to mention before this chapter that I didn't mention in the previous chapter is that in this fic, Makoto's writing is in bold while Haru's writing is in bold+italic. I think it's pretty clear but I just wanted to mention it to prevent any possible confusion.**

 **Anyway, I hope all of you will enjoy this chapter, you especially, Rosie! ^^**

* * *

The first thing Mrs. Tachibana did the next morning was give Makoto a pen. She told him that, while it also worked just fine on paper, it was made to be used on skin and would therefore wash off easily. Makoto was positively thrilled and when his mother confirmed that it was his to keep, he was so elated and grateful that the wide smile didn't leave his face for the rest of the day.

He carried his pen wherever he went, always keeping it within reach just in case there was something he needed to express to his soulmate or if the tingles suddenly appeared and he had to respond to their picture.

Not a day went by in which Makoto's skin stayed completely clear and his soulmate and he drew all sorts of different things: flowers, smileys, fish, cats, anything that was on their minds. On days when he felt really bold, Makoto would even draw a little heart on the inside of his wrist. His soulmate would always draw something else in response, a star or some waves, but Makoto never interpreted that as any sort of rejection; he figured his soulmate was a little shy, which he understood very well because there were occasions in which he himself was shy too, and the fact that they drew something in return showed that they accepted his heart and offered him something back.

Some days, when he felt a little down, the familiar tingles would appear on his palm and he'd be greeted by a kind face smiling up at him and it never failed to make him feel better. Other days, he would get a funny feeling in his stomach and his heartbeat sped up and he would suddenly feel compelled to draw a flower or a heart on the back of his hand and once he had finished it, ease settled within him again like a blanket of security being wrapped around his shoulders. So he hoped that meant that whatever it was that had been bothering his soulmate, it was over or that it had cheered them up a little in the very least.

Time flew by and there was not a single moment in which Makoto felt alone, because he knew there was unwavering love and support for him just a drawing away. Whenever he woke up and he saw a pattern wrap around his arm, he started the day off with a bright smile and he made sure to always say goodnight to his soulmate with a crescent moon before he went to sleep.

But soon, Makoto felt like the drawings weren't enough for him anymore. He loved the pictures that his soulmate came up with and seeing and feeling them pop up filled him with joy every single time, but drawing pictures in return was becoming increasingly more difficult. With each drawing, the visible difference in their artistic abilities became larger and larger as his soulmate improved but his skills remained as terrible as they had been since the beginning, and that made him feel bad. But it wasn't because he was envious of them; he thought it was amazing that his soulmate was so talented and it only made him admire them even more than he already did. It was because his own drawings weren't that great at all that Makoto felt like he couldn't properly express himself, at least not as well as his soulmate could.

He wanted to communicate with them on a deeper level than by just drawing flowers and kittens. He wanted to talk to them and ask them how they were doing, he wanted to tell them about all the exciting things he had done and wondered what kinds of things they did, he wanted to know more about them and their life and he wanted them to know about his life in return.

It wasn't like he didn't try to convey that information now; if it was a nice day out then he would draw a sun on his arm and if he was happy he'd draw a rainbow, and he was sure that his soulmate understood that perfectly fine. But that was about the height of his abilities and he doubted that his soulmate would understand him if he attempted to draw anything more complex than that.

Next to that, he wanted to know things about them that he couldn't ask with images solely. He wanted to know their name, their age and what they looked like; he wanted to know where they lived to see if it would be possible to meet them sometime, he wanted to play with them and have fun with them and hear their voice and have a real conversation with them. And in order to do all those things, he needed to be able to communicate with them beyond the simplistic symbols and drawings.

Therefore, Makoto decided to ask his parents if they could teach him how to read and write. He was still in kindergarten and wouldn't start first grade until about a year and a half later, and he knew he wouldn't be able to wait that long because the desire to get to know his soulmate was too strong to suppress. He could have easily asked either of his parents to write whatever he wanted to say on his arm, but he didn't want that because he wanted to do it on his own; he _had_ to do it on his own. The first interaction in words between his soulmate and he would be written by himself and it didn't matter how long it took before he could do it because he was determined to make it work.

Makoto's parents were more than happy to oblige so they upgraded from the games that would simultaneously teach characters and words to actual lessons on how to read and write certain characters. In the evening for his bedtime story, they would let him read along as one of them read the text aloud so he would learn to associate sounds with the characters and when he didn't understand it or couldn't follow it, they would try their best to explain it to him.

Unfortunately, everything was a little more difficult than Makoto had expected, because he had a bit of trouble differentiating the numerous amounts of characters and all the ways they could be read. Although his parents were doing everything they could, they weren't exactly teachers educated on how to best explain these things to a young child so they were still in the process of figuring it out together. Despite all of that, Makoto was trying his very best to learn and he knew he couldn't give up. All of the effort would be more than worth it once he was finally able to converse with his soulmate; they were worth all the effort in the world.

Throughout the months that passed, Makoto's determination never faltered; on the contrary, with every rose and dolphin that emerged after tingles, the flame inside of him burned brighter and fiercer and he would try even harder to absorb the information he was given even faster.

His patience was rewarded with every small milestone: the first time he was able to write his name from the top of his head, the first time he could read and understand a full sentence, with every little victory Makoto felt himself getting closer to accomplishing his goal and that only made him more eager to learn.

After a while he was able to write various different words, soon followed by small and simple sentences and Makoto was absolutely ecstatic because of his progress. But he wasn't quite there yet; he would not put a word down onto his skin before he was able to sustain a written conversation and would continue to only draw pictures until then.

That day arrived a bit later than he had been hoping for, but on the last day of March just after graduating kindergarten, Makoto finally felt confident enough to move on from solely drawing on his skin to writing something for his soulmate to read.

It was a relatively warm day and the cherry trees were in full bloom, yet Makoto was not outside to enjoy the start of the new season or the nice weather. He was sprawled out on his belly in the middle of the living room, books and papers scattered around him as he was staring at the handwritten list before him.

When he had gotten up that morning, he decided that today was the day; today, he would write to his soulmate for the very first time.

But as he had been preparing for his opening to the conversation, there was something weird nagging inside of him that kept preventing him from actually placing his pen down onto his skin. Instead, he kept putting it off, thinking to himself that he would do it later because he didn't know if his soulmate was awake yet - which was a lie considering he had woken up to a drawing of a popular mascot character on the inside of his arm that he still hadn't responded to yet.

Hours went by and it was well into the afternoon already when the cap was still firmly on Makoto's pen - his fourth pen, to be exact. At one point he convinced himself that it would be better if he wrote down everything he wanted to say on a piece of paper first, because even if he didn't know how his soulmate would respond and how that would carry the conversation forward, the security of having a little cheat sheet to fall back on made him feel a bit more self-assured. But once he had written the sentences down he was certain that he must have misspelled some characters so he got out his books to check them three times which only slurped up more of his time.

Once he was done with that, another strange feeling welled up in his stomach so he figured that he was getting hungry - despite having eaten lunch not too long ago - so he asked his mother for a snack. But when he had eaten about half of the tangerine that his mother had peeled for him, he came to the realisation that the strange feeling didn't go away, which forced him to come to terms with how he really felt: he was nervous.

After all those months of eagerly working towards his goal, now that he had finally achieved it he was postponing it due to nerves. He was so afraid of making a mistake or doing something wrong and looking silly in front of his soulmate that it was causing for him to freeze up whenever he thought about actually writing something down, therefore he kept avoiding it all-together.

But no matter how nervous he was, Makoto didn't want to keep this up. It felt like he was running away from his soulmate, which was something that he never wanted to do, because all the time and energy he spent trying to learn how to write was all for them; because he loved them and cared about them, because he wanted to get to know them more, because he wanted to meet them. He shouldn't throw all of his hard work out the window just because of some nerves. The only reason he was nervous in the first place was because he was afraid of failing in front of the eyes of his soulmate, which was stupid when he considered that his soulmate was the one person who would never judge him and who would keep supporting him no matter what. Even if he wrote something wrong, even if he looked silly, his soulmate wouldn't care about that.

With new-found courage, Makoto grabbed his bowl of remaining fruit slices and his glass of water and he took it along to his spot on the floor. As he was observing his list, he already felt his determination start to crumble again and his fingers trembled as he reached out to eat another piece of tangerine. He was so anxious that it was making him nauseous and he attempted to swallow the bile that crawled up to his throat down along with the fruit and a sip of water, but it wasn't really working. Never before had Makoto felt this conflicted because he wanted to do this so badly yet the mere thought of it made him so sick with nerves that he was physically incapable of actually writing something down.

Suddenly, he felt the inside of his wrist tingle again and he was completely caught off-guard by the little fish that appeared there. His soulmate must have sensed his distress and therefore sent him a reminder. A reminder of their unconditional love and commitment. A reassurance that was meant to put him at ease, and it certainly did; within an instant the nerves and anxiety poured out of his body and evaporated, skillfully whisked away by his soulmate's considerateness.

There was no doubt about the fact that this was a sign from his soulmate, a sign from the universe that the time had really come for him to take the first step forward into this new territory. He could do this, and it wasn't scary because this was his soulmate and when it came to them, he always felt comforted and safe.

So he sat up on his knees, took a deep breath and then he uncapped his pen, writing the characters as small as he could possibly manage on the back of his arm to ensure there would be enough space left for a potential conversation.

' **Hello** '

Once the word was staring back at him, another funny feeling began to course through his veins and tightly grasped his heart: anticipation. He wanted to start out with a simple greeting, just so he wouldn't scare off his soulmate by bombarding them with questions and information about himself. After all, it must have been a little shocking for them too that after over a year of talking solely through images, a word appeared on their skin seemingly out of nowhere because they didn't know Makoto's journey, what he had done over the past months in order to accomplish this. But it didn't matter that they didn't know yet, because he was very eager to tell them about it.

Makoto unconsciously held his breath and he was unable to avert his eyes from his arm, not wanting to miss the moment words would form on his skin for the first time. But seconds turned into minutes and time ticked by relentlessly without a single word or tingle. It was odd, because his soulmate usually responded right away and considering they had draw a fish just before Makoto wrote his greeting, he couldn't imagine that they had missed the tingles and hadn't seen it by now.

An icy rock formed in his chest when he came to a possible conclusion; maybe his soulmate couldn't read or write yet. Perhaps the characters were still alien to his soulmate and it had baffled them that he had drawn these indecipherable lines for some reason instead of the usual images that he put on their skin. The thought had honestly never even crossed his mind before, but it was very plausible considering his mother had guessed that his soulmate and he were around the same age and he hadn't officially started first grade yet, so perhaps they hadn't either. He always figured that once he was able to read and write, he would be able to talk with his soulmate but he had not once considered that communication was a two-way street that required his soulmate to be able to write and read too.

Now he really felt stupid.

Fortunately, no one could take his negative feelings away as easily and quickly as his soulmate could and the disappointment and sadness had disappeared before they were even there when his skin started to prickle.

' _ **Hello**_ '

Whether this was his soulmate actually responding or if they had just copied the characters he had written, Makoto didn't know, but the immense relief and exhilaration that flooded his senses overwhelmed him to the point where he couldn't think straight anymore because he only felt joy.

Somehow, the small word seemed a little timid to Makoto - which was strange since it was exactly what he had written too - so in order to bid his soulmate some comfort before he asked them things, Makoto decided to reveal some information about himself first.

He tried his hardest to write as neatly as he could and made sure to use polite speech. The last thing he wanted was for his soulmate to think he was sloppy or rude.

' **My name is Tachibana Makoto. You can call me Makoto. What is your name?** '

When Makoto read what he had just wrote, he worried that it might sound a little too formal or perhaps even a little robotic. Though he didn't want to seem impolite, he didn't want to build distance between them either. To solve this, Makoto decided to add a little smiley face at the end of his question to make it seem less like an interrogation and more like a friendly curiosity.

This time, he didn't have to wait long until he got a reply.

' _ **Nanase Haruka**_ '

Nanase Haruka. If he read it correctly, his soulmate's name was Nanase Haruka. Finally, after months upon months of wondering, he knew his soulmate's name and when that got through to him, his stomach did a backflip in a mix of astonishment and bliss. Although characters for names could often be read in numerous different ways, Makoto knew for sure that this was his soulmate's name because it sounded right to his heart; like even if they had written other, incomprehensible characters, he still would have known that their name was Nanase Haruka. It was beautiful and elegant and it fit his soulmate perfectly. Once he had read it, he simply couldn't imagine them ever being called anything but that and all the other names that he had previously considered in relation to his soulmate were erased from his mind instantly.

"Nanase Haruka," Makoto whispered under his breath and the name sounded like it rolled off his tongue with practiced ease, as if his voice was made to pronounce it and goosebumps naturally erupted on his skin. Although he really liked their full name - in fact, there was not a single name he liked as much as he liked Nanase Haruka - addressing them by their entire name still made Makoto feel like there was a certain type of formality separating them.

Without even as much as glancing at his cheat sheet, that had been completely forgotten in his wonder and excitement, Makoto wrote a somewhat daring proposal.

' **Can I call you Haru-chan?** '

' _ **Do what you want**_ '

Haruka's response came almost immediately and a huge smile lit up Makoto's face when he read it. His heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was trying to burst through his ribcage and fly right over to Haruka so it wouldn't have to be apart from them a second longer. The pen was quivering in his tight grasp because the glee that was buzzing in his every fiber was simply too much to contain within his small body. It seeped out of his pores and formed a cloud beneath his legs that lifted him off the floor and made him float up to the heavens so he could follow after his heart.

He had to stay with both feet on the ground though, because there were many more questions that were playing through his head and burning on the tip of his tongue and they weren't going to ask themselves. Despite the fact that his cheat sheet was filled with numerous of the most pressing questions he had pondered about since day one, there was only one that stood out in the forefront of his mind. The key to opening the door of perhaps another new phase in their interactions.

' **Haru-chan, where do you live?** '

' _ **Japan**_ '

The answer was a little more simple than Makoto had been hoping for, especially since he had never even thought about his soulmate living anywhere but here in Japan. In hindsight, he was very lucky because if Haruka had lived anywhere else then they wouldn't have even been able to understand what he wrote to them. It was certainly good to know they at least lived in the same country, but Makoto hoped they lived somewhere nearby and not in Hokkaido or any place as far away as that.

' **Me too, I live in Iwatobi** '

Mentally crossing his fingers, he wished and prayed for Haruka to live somewhere close so he could at least convince his parents to let him visit sometime. Preferably a place that he was familiar with so he wouldn't get his hopes up if he had to ask his parents where that was.

Now that he had spoken to Haruka a little, greed rapidly consumed him from the inside out and he wanted more; he wanted to see them and talk to them verbally rather than through difficult characters written on their skin, he wanted to touch them and hug them, he wanted to have sleepovers with them and watch the stars with them until they fell asleep side by side. This was their first written conversation that he had spent such a significant amount of time and energy working towards and it already wasn't enough for him anymore.

But his heart was greedy for a reason, a reason that was still unknown to Makoto and perhaps even to Haruka, but not to the universe.

When the tingles returned, Makoto shut his eyes tightly in fear of having his hopes and dreams shattered by what was being written there. His mind was torn between wanting to know as quickly as possible and ignoring it for just a tad longer so he could keep pretending, but ultimately the desire to get to know every last thing about Haruka triumphed.

After taking another deep breath, Makoto opened his eyes again and they almost fell out of their sockets when he saw what Haruka had written.

' _ **Me too**_ '

He simply couldn't believe it. Of all the places in Japan where his soulmate could live, they just so happened to live in the same small, seaside town where he lived too.

It just seemed too good to be true and the more he thought about it, the more doubt began to cloud his mind. It was a far-fetched thought, but they hadn't specifically said that they lived in Iwatobi, so they might have misunderstood him or meant something entirely different - though what that possibly could have been, Makoto didn't know. Better safe than sorry, Makoto decided to ask for an elaboration before he falsely assumed something.

' **You too?** '

What Makoto had meant didn't get lost on Haruka, most likely thanks to their soulbond, and they answered with an explicit confirmation.

' _ **I live in Iwatobi too**_ '

That should have been more than enough for Makoto to know that they were on the same page - or rather, at the same place - yet a sliver of doubt remained inside his heart. What if there was another town called Iwatobi somewhere at the other side of Japan and Haruka lived there? It was very unlikely, but once the thought entered his head it wouldn't leave again and he knew he had to be completely certain before he was content.

For the first time since the start of their conversation, Makoto glanced at his cheat sheet to make sure he wouldn't misspell the name he was about to write.

' **Really? Iwatobi in Tottori?** '

' _ **Yes**_ '

The pen fell to the floor as all the strength and tension left Makoto's body upon reading that word. His heart, that had been thumping so hard that it almost hurt, ceased beating and his brain malfunctioned. For just a moment, time seemed to stand still because his entire world wasn't simply flipped upside down, it stopped turning as well because no matter how obvious it had been, he couldn't comprehend that the information he had been given was all true.

Haruka was here. His soulmate was right here. Not only were they tangible, but they were well within his reach. All of the things he had been dreaming of this past year and a half were possible, not just in the distant future, but _right now_. He could actually meet them.

A loud gasp left his lips when this realisation dawned upon him and he slapped his small hand over his mouth. In an instant everything started to work again and suddenly it was going too fast, like the universe was trying to catch up on the lost seconds. The world was spinning around him but it didn't make him feel dizzy; all he felt was pure and unadulterated happiness. His smile was so wide that it hurt but the elation that he felt made him numb to the ache, because there were more important things for him to focus on instead of pain.

He was trembling violently but he didn't let that hold him back; he wanted to tell Haruka how happy he was but he knew he wouldn't be able to find words that were accurate enough to explain how much joy he felt. So he decided to tell them in a language they were both very fluent in. He plucked the pen off the floor and drew the a face sporting the biggest, brightest smile he could possibly fit on his skin right next to Haruka's affirmation.

Before Haruka had the chance to respond, Makoto shakily wrote his next daring proposal in a combination of excitement and fervor.

' **Do you want to meet up?** '

' _ **Alright. Where?**_ '

Haruka's agreement made him feel like the cloud was back beneath him, like the anticipation and euphoria granted him the power to levitate once more. But again, he couldn't let his thoughts wander off to a realm of bliss, because the sooner he responded, the sooner he might actually meet Haruka face-to-face.

So he frantically looked through his notes because he knew exactly where he wanted to meet them, but he didn't know the words to explain the place with. Once he had found some descriptors after pondering and searching a bit, he didn't hesitate any longer.

' **At the playground with the swings and the slide?** '

' _ **Okay. See you soon**_ '

When Makoto read that, something burst inside of him and he jumped up to go tell his mother, who was hanging out the laundry to dry in the yard. In his jubilation he even forgot to write something back to Haruka, because all that was on his mind was that he was going to see them _now_.

"Mommy, Mommy!" he yelled as he ran outside without as much as putting his slippers on, the wide, toothy grin still plastered on his face and heart beating faster than ever.

Mrs. Tachibana halted halfway through hanging up a towel to look at her son, but before she had the chance to ask him what was going on, Makoto babbled on hysterically.

"I'm going to meet them! I'm going to meet Haru-chan!"

"What? Who?" his mother asked in confusion as she furrowed her eyebrows, because she hadn't seen Makoto this thrilled since, well, ever. The only thing that even came close was that one summer day his soulmate and he interacted for the first time by drawing fish on their arms all afternoon, but that was nothing compared to how ecstatic he was right now; it seemed like he was captivated in a magic spell and she had no idea what had enchanted him.

"Haru-chan!" Makoto pressed on, "My soulmate! Look!"

He held out his arm for his mother to examine and when she read all the words that were written there, she gasped loudly. Although she had known that Makoto had been eager to learn how to read and write for the purpose of communicating with his soulmate, she hadn't known that he had planned to write to them _today_. Besides that, the last thing she had expected was for Makoto's soulmate to live here in Iwatobi and for them to arrange a meeting the very first time they ever talked to each other.

Her brain was still trying to comprehend what all of this meant, mouth hanging open in disbelief, but she didn't have much time to process it before Makoto said that he was going and she was forced to snap out of it. There was no way she was going to let him leave without documenting this crucial moment, this important turning point in his life. "Wait!" she exclaimed as she grabbed his wrist to hold him back. "We need to take a picture first!"

That made Makoto stop dead in his tracks because even though he really couldn't wait to finally meet Haruka, he valued all the photos that were taken of his skin overtime and he would be sad if he didn't have a picture of their first conversation. He remembered one time when Haruka had drawn a really nice kitty but had washed it off before Makoto had the chance to show his parents and ask them to capture it. Recalling it still made his chest ache with disappointment, so he definitely didn't want that to happen again.

When Mrs. Tachibana was snapping photos of Makoto's arm, the weight of their exchange finally began to sink in and her heartbeat accelerated in a mixture of nerves and excitement on behalf of her son. Ever since she had properly explained the meaning of soulmates, she had been hearing stories strung together by enthusiasm about the drawings that Makoto and his soulmate made and he speculated about their identity every single day, so needless to say her curiosity about her son's other half was through the roof. And the knowledge that they were about to see them for the first time, the person who they had never met yet who had become an unmissable and essential member of their family already, filled her with a type of giddiness that was resembling the kind she had felt when she had first met her own soulmate.

Once the pictures were taken, Makoto didn't waste another second before he ran over to the genkan to put his shoes on. Though he was usually very skilled at tying his shoelaces, his fingers were quivering so hard that it was nearly impossible to form a good knot and when his mother noticed, she gladly helped him out. He wanted to bolt out the door right away but despite the relatively warm weather for the time of the year, the wind could still be a bit chilly for his small body so she made him put on a light jacket first. When everything was said and done, Makoto followed his fate and opened the door to go meet his destiny.

The mellow spring breeze was dyed in the scent of the salty sea as it swept along fallen petals of the blossoming cherry trees and tousled Makoto's hair. The air was crisp as it entered Makoto's panting lungs because he was running as fast as his short legs could carry him. His mother followed behind him closely, albeit a bit slower. There was absolutely no way she was going to miss this moment, not when she had been looking forward to it ever since she held her baby boy for the very first time.

Makoto was approaching the playground in record time and it felt like only a single heartbeat had passed since he had left his house. But he came to an abrupt halt when he realised that despite knowing Haruka so well already, there were crucial things that were required for them to meet yet that he hadn't been told; their age, their appearance, not even their gender. And this just so happened to be the very first time he had ever forgotten his pen at home in his haste so he couldn't even ask them now.

Still, he wouldn't let those things hold him back; he knew where to meet them and what their name was, so he could simply wait and ask anyone who was present at the playground if they happened to be Haruka.

With that in mind, he determinedly set foot onto the playground. Turned out that he didn't even need more information on his soulmate because once he saw Haruka, he immediately knew it was them.

On one of the swings sat a boy around his age with dark hair, porcelain skin and the bluest, most piercing eyes that shone so brightly that Makoto could clearly see them, even from here, and they spontaneously made his heart thump in a different rhythm. His blood was rapidly rushing through his veins in a way it never had before when he laid eyes upon this boy and everyone and everything else at the playground vanished from his sight instantly. This boy was by far the most mesmerising, the most breathtakingly beautiful person Makoto had ever seen in his entire life.

"Haru-chan," he whispered to himself, and at that exact moment the boy looked up and ocean blue met forest green. Although there hadn't be a single doubt in his mind, the instance their eyes met for the first time, something clicked inside of Makoto. There was no mistake that this was his soulmate; in a room crowded with thousands of other people, Makoto still would have known it was him because his soul could recognise its other half anywhere. "Haru-chan!"

"Makoto," the boy mumbled softly in response and Makoto could feel it more than he could hear it because of the distance that remained between them. This was the final confirmation.

Haruka got up from the swing and took a few steps forward, looking like his legs had moved on their own accord because his mind seemed to be entranced by the same type of magic that had captivated Makoto as well.

Before Makoto realised what he was doing, he was running again. Legs moving involuntarily, faster than they ever had before, because the tension of being apart had been building up for over six years and once the halves of their shared soul were within each other's reach again, there was absolutely nothing that could stop the force that was drawing them to one another. Haruka was walking at a much slower pace, but that didn't make it any less powerful; it was filled with confidence and certainty, like he was already waiting at the finish line that Makoto was heading towards.

Makoto's feet came to a crashing halt when he got close to Haruka and without a word he tightly wrapped his arms around him in an intimate, assured embrace and immediately Haruka hugged him back. Within an instant Makoto's heartbeat slowed down and everything was finally right in the world.

The feeling of Haruka's arms around him, body pressed closely against his own, was the most comforting thing he had ever experienced and Makoto let his eyes fall shut so he could feel it even more. The ground disappeared beneath their feet and Haruka and he levitated through the universe together, holding on forever in a way that would linger even when they inevitably had to physically let each other go again. At last, after a long period of waiting and yearning, their two halves merged to form the one whole they originally were, and Makoto had never felt more at peace than he did right at that moment.

No matter how wonderful it felt to finally hug Haruka after having craved it for so long, something inside Makoto urged him to pull back ever so slightly so he could take a proper look at his soulmate's face; so he could study his features and absorb the image in his mind, never to be forgotten.

The wide smile that had been painting his face turned a little more subdued as Makoto stared into the vast ocean of Haruka's eyes, though that didn't make it any less genuine. His mouth couldn't keep smiling forever, but his heart definitely could and he knew that as long as he had Haruka by his side, the enormous smile inside his chest would never wilt or fade away. And he didn't even need to say anything aloud because could easily read the understanding and reciprocation in that sea of beauty, a tiny smile tugging at Haruka's pink lips as well.

"Haru-chan, I found you," Makoto murmured with remnants of disbelief, making it sound like they had been playing a game of hide-and-seek for these past couple of years and that he had started to lose hope but had never stopped looking.

Haruka only nodded in confirmation, like he didn't trust his voice not to crack if he were to give a verbal response. Then he suddenly moved one of his arms from where it had been wrapped around Makoto's body and he raised his hand towards Makoto's face to wipe away the droplets that were rolling over his round cheeks. It wasn't until Haruka did that that Makoto even realised that he was crying, and he giggled lightly at the somewhat ticklish way Haruka's fingers were gliding over his skin.

It wasn't just Makoto's small body that couldn't contain the outburst of emotion at finally meeting the other; although Haruka was a bit bigger than Makoto was, he could see tears welling up in Haruka's beautiful eyes too, making them shimmer like precious gemstones and Makoto knew that he would treasure them forevermore, just like he would treasure every last part of Haruka. After all, Haruka deserved nothing less.

Unlike Makoto, Haruka didn't allow his tears to spill over, forcibly keeping them at bay and Makoto was actually happy about that because he thought that Haruka should save up his tears for when he really needed them. Because they were much too precious to be wasted.

Once Haruka deemed himself done with cleaning off Makoto's face, his arm found its way back around his body and he squeezed tightly before he buried his head in Makoto's shoulder, nuzzling gently. It was most likely an attempt to hide the red tinge that was lighting up his cheeks, embarrassed that he couldn't keep control of every little sign that would give away how overwhelmed yet elated he was as well. Makoto thought it was cute either way and though he would have loved to see him blush without it being hidden, he accepted and respected Haruka's will and lightly squeezed him back to return the gesture, afraid of accidentally hurting Haruka if he used too much strength.

Unfortunately, no matter how badly they wanted to, they couldn't keep holding each other forever. After an eternity and a half of floating through the core of the universe, just the two of them, they released each other completely and returned to the playground.

The sound of soft sobs caught Makoto's attention and he looked up at where it was coming from. Seeing his mother cry would have been very alarming to him in any other situation, but he knew that it was nothing to be concerned about now and that she was also happy to finally meet Haruka after he had talked about him so often. The wide and watery smile that was on her face was very reassuring too.

It wasn't until then that Makoto noticed the two other figures that were surrounding them: a lady that seemed to be around his mother's age and an elderly lady, who both appeared to be struck with emotion as well. Though not a word had been spoken by either of them, Makoto didn't need more context clues to know that these ladies were Haruka's mother and grandmother.

He had been so focused on Haruka solely that he hadn't even seen them earlier, but now that he had, a sense of urgency overtook him and he quickly muttered, "My name is Tachibana Makoto, I'm Haru-chan's soulmate. Nice to meet you!" and bowed deeply to them, feeling heat rise to his face as he did. The last thing he wanted was to leave a bad first impression on Haruka's family.

A hearty chuckle sounded out and Makoto felt a hand being placed on top of his head. "It's nice to meet you too, Makoto," a voice warm with the passage of time said, "I am Haruka's grandmother."

When Makoto looked up, he saw a genuine smile that reminded him of his own grandma painted on the lady's worn, wrinkly, yet still beautiful features. Blue eyes that resembled Haruka's were staring down at him, and their kindness and wisdom immediately assured Makoto that there was no need to worry; because he was the soulmate of her beloved grandson, he automatically belonged as well.

Makoto's greeting prompted everyone to introduce themselves out of politeness, because it certainly wasn't a necessity; not when they were already family.

Once all the pleasantries were out of the way, Haruka turned himself to Makoto once more and he asked, "Do you want to go play in the sandbox?"

"Sure!" Makoto replied without hesitation. After waiting for so long, his patience was completely stretched thin and there was nothing that he wanted more than to play with Haruka, just like he had always dreamed to. He was certain that Haruka was very good at sculpting sand, judging by all the drawings he had made, and even though he himself wasn't exactly skilled at it, that didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy it; he was sure that with together with Haruka, he could watch paint dry and love every second of it.

Haruka took his hand and guided him to the sandbox, where they didn't need anything but their imagination and each other. As they were playing, building mounts and digging tunnels to the other's side, they talked and talked and talked, taking their sweet time to get to know each other a little more one question at a time.

One of the biggest wonders that Makoto had was how they could live in the same small town without actually having met before; even if they hadn't officially met, they should have crossed paths at least once during the past six years. And he knew they hadn't because surely he would have remembered it, with the odd feelings that had been bubbling in his tummy all day and how the thumping in his chest became harder and more erratic when he had arrived at the playground and first laid eyes upon Haruka.

Apparently, those thoughts were written all over Makoto's face. Before he could open his mouth to ask about it, Haruka off-handedly mentioned that he had moved here just a couple of days ago for his father's work and that they had been living in a little village in Hokkaido up until then. It was funny, considering Makoto had been wishing that Haruka didn't live in Hokkaido specifically, so he thanked fate and destiny with all his heart for bringing Haruka here to Iwatobi. For bringing Haruka to him.

Through conversation, they found out that they were actually neighbours now and that Haruka had moved into the house just a bit higher up on the hill, that Makoto hadn't even known was vacant before then. Even though they were still so young, they knew that having their soulmate this closeby was a real privilege that shouldn't be taken for granted, but that should be cherished with every opportunity that presented itself. And despite only having met a little while ago, they couldn't be happier with the assurance of the other's presence. After all, they already knew each other through and through; despite only gradually acquiring information about the other, their hearts knew everything there was to know about the other long before they even met, for there were no secrets to be kept when sharing one and the same soul.

Because of this, Makoto quickly discovered that Haruka was actually as wonderful and amazing as he had always known he was. He was so lucky and grateful that Haruka was his soulmate, because he already knew that there was no one else in the entire world who he could ever like more than he liked Haruka. At that time he had no idea yet that that sentiment was entirely mutual, but he really should have expected nothing less.

At last, when the sun had disappeared almost completely beneath the horizon, their mothers, who had been talking the whole time as well, regretfully told them it was time to go home. They had been so preoccupied with their conversation and building their little sandcastle that they hadn't been aware of the time that passed and they hadn't even noticed that it was almost dark already. Although they were sad to go away because they hadn't nearly had enough of each other yet, the knowledge that they were only a stairwell away from one another comforted them and guarantees that they could see each other again whenever they wanted appeased them for now.

So they got up and dusted the sand off their palms and clothes before they interlinked their hands once more as they walked home together with their mothers and Haruka's grandmother. At the steps that separated their houses, Makoto hugged Haruka for a second time in what was thankfully not a farewell, but a promise to meet up the following day. His heart felt a little heavy at the thought of going back home, but the small smile Haruka bid him when he pulled back whisked his sadness away to make place for anticipation and excitement. They hadn't even said goodbye yet and Makoto already couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow.

As soon as Makoto got home, he took off his jacket and shoes so he could rush back to his forgotten pen and draw a little something for Haruka. It seemed like Haruka had the same idea, because before Makoto had even uncapped his pen, he felt the familiar tingles on the back of his hand. When he saw what had appeared, a rush of fondness and love surged through his chest, making him smile softly down at the drawing as he ran his fingertips over it.

Imprinted in his skin was the outline of a little heart.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ^^**

 **This is probably just my own paranoia talking, but in case there's anything about this fic that seems irrelevant or weird, it should make sense later on so I hope you'll stick around for that. One of the things I always struggle with is how much I should explain things since I don't want to over-explain things that are obvious, but I also don't want things to be so vague that they don't make sense, so I try to find an even balance in it and I hope I have somewhat found it with this fic. If not, I'm sorry, but I'm trying to solve it all before the end of the fic.**

 **As always, you can find me over on Tumblr and Twitter at DatHeetJoella if you want to hear my thoughts about MakoHaru or just Free! in general, especially now that season 3 is going on.**

 **Thanks again so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. I hope to see you again at the next chapter, and for now I wish you a lovely day!**


	3. 15 & 16

**A/N: Hello and welcome back to chapter 3! We've come to the halfway point of this fic and I hope that the remaining chapters will follow shortly, but alas I can't promise anything.**

 **For this chapter I strayed a bit from my original planning, just to make the story a little more cohesive in a chaptered format. So I really hope that you'll enjoy it, you especially, Rosie! ^^**

* * *

The stars were twinkling brightly in the clear night sky, the soft moonbeams shining down to light up the darkness, and Makoto was sitting on Haruka's porch, idly swinging his legs while he was petting the stray cat that was fast asleep on his lap.

As he was running his fingers through the cat's thick white fur and scratched behind her ear, his eyes fell on the small yet incredibly detailed drawing that adorned the back of his left arm and he smiled to himself in endearment. It was a doodle of Iwatobi-chan that had gradually appeared there earlier that day, and it was obvious that Haruka had drawn it out of boredom. Nevertheless, it was beautiful, because Haruka's art always was even when he didn't put much effort into it.

' **Cute! Looks amazing, Haru** ' was written beneath Iwatobi-chan's feet with a brightly smiling face right next to it. Although he had never had as much of an affinity for mascot characters as his soulmate, Makoto looked at Iwatobi-chan with fondness, not just because Haruka had drawn him, but also because he couldn't help but like everything that Haruka loved. His interest in mascot characters was honestly adorable, and seeing them always reminded Makoto of his other half. Therefore, he thought that they were special too.

When he recalled that he hadn't taken a picture of the doodle yet, he quickly took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a few shots in fear that it would disappear before he had the chance to catch it. This was a habit he had never been able to shake and frankly, he didn't want to shake it either; he loved everything Haruka put on their skin, whether it was a tiny doodle or an elaborate portrait, a simple response to his question or a sincere wish of good morning, so he captured all of it to be treasured forevermore. Even though he knew the lines would always live on inside his heart, he liked looking back on all the drawings Haruka had made over the past decade and reminiscing about the time they spent together as he thumbed through the pictures.

On his ninth birthday, his parents had given him a small digital camera so he could take photos without having to ask or show them first. Despite having no secrets for his parents, overtime the drawings and conversations they shared on their skin became more personal and intimate so in hindsight, he really appreciated that they gave him his privacy when it came to his soulmate and their connection.

But that didn't mean that he stopped letting his family see everything: if Haruka had drawn something beautiful, like this Iwatobi-chan, he still showed them out of pride and admiration. Haruka's talent was something that deserved all the praise in the world and whenever Makoto heard someone compliment his art, his chest swelled with appreciation as if it were his own work being talked so positively of.

Once he was satisfied with the pictures, he turned his arm, figuring that he might as well take some of the conversation they had just a couple of minutes ago while he was ahead.

' _ **Want to come over?**_ '

' **Sure! I'll be right there!** '

Earlier this year, Haruka's father was transferred back to his old office so he moved back to Hokkaido. Haruka and his mother stayed behind in Iwatobi, but as the weeks passed, living so far away from her soulmate became unbearable for Mrs. Nanase. They all agreed that it was for the best if she would move back to Hokkaido too so she could live with her husband. Thankfully, Haruka decided to stay here, because Makoto could only imagine how heart-wrenching it must be to be torn apart from your other half and he definitely didn't want to experience that himself.

Haruka had always been an independent person and managed living on his own just fine, but that didn't mean that it wasn't difficult to get used to his family being gone and it could get very lonesome at times. Because of that, Makoto took it upon himself to prevent Haruka from feeling too lonely so he came over whenever he could. He would never say anything about it, but Makoto could feel it in his very core that Haruka was really grateful and happy to have him by his side.

This past week, they hadn't seen each other as often as they usually did though; Haruka's parents had come over to visit and even though Makoto was happy to see them again, he didn't want to impose too much so he took a step back to let them have some quality time alone with their son.

Truthfully, Makoto had mixed feelings about it. He was glad that Haruka could finally spend some time with his parents, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't miss him during the hours spent apart. Ever since they met at the playground all those years ago, they had been inseparable, joined at the hip wherever they went so being away from him for more than a day stung more than it probably should have.

But Mr. and Mrs. Nanase had left this evening, which only brought along some more mixed feelings for Makoto: he was happy to bounce back into their usual routine of seeing each other every waking moment, but the knowledge that Haruka would be alone at his house again still stung a bit. Though he was sure that if he were to ask Haruka about it, he would say that he was glad to be freed from their constant nagging and fussing over him. It would be a joke for the most part, but Makoto could very well imagine that it was a little overwhelming to have his parents around every last minute after not being used to that anymore, especially since Haruka was someone who treasured solitude and even craved it sometimes.

With that in mind, Makoto hadn't intended to come over immediately after Haruka's parents left, just so he could have some time to himself. But he should have known that Haruka didn't consider his presence to be draining, because shortly thereafter, his arm started to tingle and those lovely words appeared on his skin. It was good to know that Haruka had missed him too.

When he had arrived, Haruka simply told him to sit down on the porch so he did what he had been told without question. It didn't take long before his feline friend strolled along and claimed the spot on his lap. He appreciated her company and had been petting her ever since. Together they waited for Haruka to finish whatever task he was occupying himself with so he could join them during this mellow summer evening.

"Makoto."

Speak of the devil.

The sudden sound of Haruka's soft yet deep voice startled the sleeping cat awake and she immediately jumped up from Makoto's lap and ran off into the night.

"Sorry."

"It's alright," Makoto said as he put his phone back into his pocket, knowing that it hadn't been Haruka's intention to scare her off.

Haruka nodded in acknowledgement before he held out his arm, offering Makoto one of the small bowls he had brought along. "Here."

Automatically, Makoto reached out to accept it and it wasn't until he had the bowl in his hand and Haruka sat down beside him that he noticed that it was filled with pieces of tangerine. Upon seeing them, his stomach did a backflip in combination of gratitude and guilt; Haruka knew that he loved tangerines and he really appreciated his thoughtfulness, but tangerines were pretty expensive during this season and he felt bad that Haruka had blown his money on them for him. "Tangerines?" he couldn't help but question, "You didn't have to get them for me."

"But you like them, right?" was Haruka's initial response, but the bashful side of him tried to brush his honesty off with nonchalance, "I still had some lying around and it would be a waste to throw them out, so I figured we might as well eat them now before they go bad."

That was obviously a lie; these tangerines didn't even look close to almost expiring. On the contrary, they looked really fresh, like Haruka had bought them no earlier than this morning at best.

When Haruka realised this, he quickly averted his eyes and mumbled, "Besides, I like them too," before he popped one of the slices from his own bowl into his mouth, pouting slightly.

A hint of laughter bubbled up inside Makoto because of how cute Haruka was, but fortunately he was able to swallow most of it to save Haruka some embarrassment. Well, he wasn't going to argue that.

Silence settled between them and Makoto let out a sigh of happiness. A quiet summer night spent alongside his soulmate with a refreshing piece of fruit; what more could he wish for?

With a content smile stretching his cheeks Makoto followed Haruka's example and slipped a small piece of tangerine between his lips. The flavour burst out of the skin, spreading sweetness through his mouth as he chewed. He hadn't expected the tangerines to be so sweet around this time of year, but he certainly wasn't complaining. This was how he liked them best, so he gratefully ate another piece and closed his eyes, savouring the taste on his tongue.

Inevitably, the sweetness brought along a fond memory; one of a warm sunny day a little over a decade ago, that was dyed with the sweet taste and scent of tangerines, that tingled with a school of fish manifesting on his arm and thoughts of a person whom he had never met before yet already knew that he loved with all his heart.

Makoto glanced down at his arm, turning it to look at the inside of his wrist. That particular part of his skin was blank, but if he focused hard enough, it was like he could see the outline of that first little fish even now. It was odd to think that eleven years had already passed since then, because he could remember it so vividly that it seemed like it was only yesterday. By now, all the questions he had back then were answered and all his wonders were long since confirmed.

"Haru, you know," Makoto mumbled between bites, tender smile adorning his features in reminiscence, "the first time you drew something on your skin for me, I was eating a tangerine too. Do you remember that day?"

"Of course I do," Haruka affirmed, voice muffled around his full mouth. A playful smirk emerged as he continued, "How could I forget? The blue smudges were on my arm for a week."

The enamoured smile was instantly wiped from Makoto's face to make place for embarrassment. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he turned his head, staring at his feet with his mouth hanging open in an attempt to find the right response to being called out on a mistake he made when he was four. "I'm sorry! I didn't know, okay? My mom didn't tell me that there were special pens and that I shouldn't use regular markers on my skin."

"It's alright, I thought it was funny," Haruka snorted, thinking back to the smile he had worn when he woke up the next day to find that the blue fish were still there, albeit a bit smudged out. "My mom though… not so much."

Although Haruka was chuckling softly as he recalled what happened back then, Makoto had never wanted to sink and disappear through the floor as much as he did now. He shoved a handful of tangerine pieces into his mouth to occupy himself with as he listened to the story he had never heard before, but wasn't very eager to hear either. Despite yearning to know every little detail about Haruka's life from start to present, in this scenario Makoto was pretty sure that ignorance was bliss for the sake of his own sanity.

"It was the day before the wedding of my aunt and her wife, and I was going to be the ring-bearer," Haruka started, amused smile playing at his lips. "Since I had just turned five and didn't really understand anything about weddings or soulmates, my grandmother wanted to explain it to me. She told me about the basics of soulbonds and how we have a skin link with our soulmate, and she gave me a pen to try it out. I was very sceptical about it, especially since it took some time before you drew something back. But eventually you did and by the end of the afternoon my entire arm was covered in fish."

Haruka paused for a second to take another bite of fruit, and Makoto allowed himself to enjoy the fondness of their shared memory of drawing fish on their arms before it would ultimately be shattered by the reality of what happened afterwards in Haruka's side of the story.

"When my mom saw it, she was already displeased," he continued with a rare yet wide grin at what was about to come next. "My aunt and her wife had a beach wedding, and my mother got me this neat, short-sleeved outfit for the occasion, and she didn't want our drawings to ruin the overall look of it. My grandmother told her to calm down because all the ink would be washed off that evening and everything would be fine. Except it didn't."

Dread started to fill Makoto's stomach and he tried to rinse the sour taste in his mouth away with another piece of tangerine, but it was in vain. Suddenly, it didn't taste so sweet anymore.

"My grandmother laughed so hard that she teared up but my mom didn't think it was funny at all. She was so upset that she tried to scrub the blue marks off my arm even though she knew it was useless because the ink was in your skin, not mine." Instinctively, Haruka brushed his fingers over his arm, like he could still feel it when he recalled it. "My aunt said it was fine and that it couldn't be helped because my soulmate and I were just children, but I'm pretty sure they all cursed my grandmother for telling me about soulmates right before the wedding."

Makoto honestly didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. "So you're telling me that at the age of four, I managed to ruin the wedding of two women I don't know while I wasn't even there?"

That description made Haruka snort once more. "Well, with all the attention that my blue arm got, I'd say you were there in spirit. Especially when you started to draw new things over the smudges."

Rationally speaking, Makoto understood that he never could have known that Haruka was playing an important role in his aunt's wedding. But he felt pretty embarrassed about the whole situation nonetheless and he let out a loud groan as he buried his face in his hands out of shame. The idea of it was kind of funny objectively, but he still felt bad that Haruka was troubled because of his ignorance. "Sorry."

It wasn't like Haruka had told Makoto with the intention to mock or offend him, but he just genuinely thought it was funny. It had been so long ago that there was no reason to be serious about it, especially considering they were literal kindergartners when this happened. Still, teasing his soulmate a bit was just fun because he knew Makoto wouldn't take it seriously either; it was always a mutual exchange of playful words. Because of that, it was obvious from the start Makoto wouldn't _actually_ be upset or distraught about something like this, just a little flustered.

In order to comfort him, Haruka put a reassuring hand on Makoto's shoulder. "You did entertain me during the boring reception, so I am grateful for that," he said earnestly, though a hint of teasing was still laced through his tone, "But it did bring more guests over to me to question me about my soulmate. My grandmother was there to help me out because she knew I didn't like talking to people I didn't know very well, and whenever someone mentioned the blue marks underneath, she would jokingly say " _Haruka's soulmate is not the brightest crayon in the box_ ", and at the time, I couldn't help but agree."

"Oh, great!" Makoto said sarcastically, averting his gaze in an attempt to hide his own amusement at Haruka's anecdote, but he was unable to keep the smile out of his voice entirely. "So my first thoughts about you were that you're so amazing and talented and that I love you with all my heart, while your first thought about me was that I'm a massive idiot."

Haruka couldn't stop himself from snorting again at that statement and the way he phrased it. "I did think you were an idiot," he confirmed as he moved his hand from where it had been cupping Makoto's shoulder to weave his fingers through Makoto's instead. This intimate touch surprised Makoto and it pulled him from his feigned sulking, looking up to meet Haruka's piercing blue eyes. Haruka smiled softly before he murmured, "But you were _my_ idiot, and I wouldn't want to have anyone else."

Within an instant the teasing atmosphere dissolved to make place for serious tension. Makoto's mouth fell open a little, completely caught off-guard by Haruka's sudden yet heartfelt words. Haruka's face was bathed in a mixture of the soft moonlight and the warm glow from the lamps inside, his gaze focused directly on Makoto, unwavering. The intensity inside his eyes stole Makoto's breath away, seeing nothing but honesty swimming in that sea of endless beauty.

Hesitant fingers reached up to Makoto's face, growing more confident as they curled around his jaw. Slowly but surely Haruka leaned closer, giving Makoto plenty of time to move away if so desired. He didn't, couldn't have even if he had wanted to, because something inside Haruka's gaze had enchanted him and thoroughly eradicated any useful thought that once resided in his head.

At last, their eye-contact was broken as Haruka's eyes fluttered shut, yet Makoto found himself to be captured in Haruka's spell all the same. And he would be forevermore; with a sharp intake of breath, Haruka closed the distance between them and planted his lips upon Makoto's in a firm yet gentle kiss. Every remaining bit of hope to one day break the spell that captivated him vanished immediately, and Makoto couldn't be happier about it; there was nothing that he wanted more than to wholeheartedly lose himself in Haruka.

But before he could respond in any way, Haruka's lips were gone again, much to Makoto's disappointment. Thankfully, they didn't stray very far, as Haruka only pulled back slightly to look at him once more, eyes half-lidded. The intensity lingered, locking Makoto in place with a single look. It wasn't necessary by any means, because there was absolutely nothing in the entire universe that could divert Makoto's attention from Haruka. Not now, not ever.

The scent of tangerines was heavy on his warm breath, ghosting over Makoto's lips so sensually as he whispered, "Because I love you so, so much."

If Haruka's mouth meeting his in their very first kiss didn't make Makoto's heart burst with overflowing affection already, then hearing the sincere words that were embroidered on their soul out loud for the very first time definitely set off the fireworks of love in his stomach, to explode in everlasting joy. As inevitable as this might have been in the grand scheme of things, scripted in their destiny from the moment they were created, it still overwhelmed Makoto with indescribable happiness and an impossibly bright smile stretched his cheeks.

Knowing that he would never be able to find an adequate response that would properly convey how he felt, for words that held that much meaning simply hadn't been written yet, Makoto decided to show rather than tell. He squeezed the hand in his lightly while he leaned in to capture Haruka's lips with his own, initiating their second kiss because he hadn't been able to reciprocate during their first.

Haruka sighed against his mouth, and every droplet of hesitance that once flowed through his veins evaporated instantly, kissing Makoto back with all he got. The feeling of it was foreign, but the emotions that drove it certainly weren't; the passion and affection that had been gradually building up over the course of the past couple of years could finally be expressed. Like the pressure that had been weighing on their chests was relieved at long last as their lips softly pressed against each other. Who would have guessed that kissing would be such a wonderful outlet for feelings too great to be voiced aloud?

The light touch was already amazing, but there was something instinctively telling Makoto to change his approach, for there was even greater pleasure to be found in kissing if he knew where to look for it. With no clue what he was doing and honestly without thinking too, Makoto parted his lips and gently brushed them over Haruka's.

Judging by the small gasp and the slight twitch of his fingers against his jaw, this surprised Haruka, though definitely not in a negative way. He followed Makoto's example and tried to match his pace. They practically melted at the astonishing feeling of their lips sliding over one another's so tenderly, making goosebumps erupt on their backs. A kiss so sweet made their skin tingle like the other's entire body was being drawn on at once; it felt downright tantalising.

In a mixed need for leverage and to feel more of Haruka, Makoto placed his hand on Haruka's waist. He had done it so naturally, with confidence that he never had under any other circumstances, that the thought that Haruka might not appreciate this touch hadn't even crossed his mind - to be fair, not a single thought was crossing his mind at that moment except for the yearning for Haruka's lips, his touch, his love… his everything.

Once more it was proven that they were so in tune with each other that Makoto never had to worry about things like this; Haruka leaned into his touch and tightened his hold on Makoto's hand, showing that the need to feel each other was just as mutual as all of their other feelings.

Although everything about kissing was new and exciting, it was honestly like coming home too. Love was a language that their souls already knew by heart, but that their minds and bodies were gradually learning together, one step at a time. The feelings had been there since the start, but they were slowly uncovering them layer by layer and discovered new ways to do so; as of right then, kissing was definitely the favoured contender on the list. There was no rush, not with the prospect of getting to spend their entire lives together. Yet they found themselves already looking forward to a lifetime of shared kisses, for they were certain they could never grow tired of this amazing sensation.

But they had to break apart at one point, much to their dismay. Makoto ended the kiss, chest aching with lack of oxygen - which wasn't surprising considering everything about Haruka was absolutely breathtaking. Between the two of them, Haruka was clearly the one who had the most lung capacity, because of which it felt to him like the kiss had ended prematurely. To solve this issue, Haruka caught Makoto's lips once more in a chaste yet incredibly loving kiss that resembled their first.

Panting lightly, Makoto pulled back and rested his forehead against Haruka's, not daring to open his eyes just yet in fear of disturbing the magical ambience that enveloped them. It felt like he was slowly waking up from a dream that he never wanted to end, so he wanted to hang on for as long as he possibly could.

Yet when he noticed Haruka's eyes opening once more, he couldn't suppress the desire to meet his gaze. When he did, it dawned upon him that his fear had been unwarranted; having Haruka as his soulmate was truly a dream come true, one that was tangible and real and didn't just depend on the current of the realm of sleep.

Naturally a smile lit up his face again, because how couldn't it? A smile as wide as his cheeks would allow was soon becoming part of his default expression, and it was all thanks to Haruka. With something as simple as a single look, he was able to make Makoto's heart overflow with copious amounts of affection that would take an eternity and a half to be expressed. His presence was so reassuring and comforting that Makoto only felt overwhelming adoration and security when he was by his side **.**

There was nothing but pure love and giddiness gushing in every last fiber of Makoto's body. He couldn't help but giggle softly at the uncontainable happiness that Haruka showered him in without even intending to, solely by being here for him and loving him unconditionally.

He was tempted to steal another kiss from Haruka's lips, so he did, elated by the fact that he simply could. Although he had often imagined their first kiss in the past, he had never felt the urge to rush into it, because he knew that the universe had planned the perfect time for it anyway. And now that that blissful moment had finally arrived, he didn't understand how he had been able to resist Haruka's lips for so long. Kissing him was nothing short of absolutely wonderful and Makoto would gladly indulge himself whenever he could, for he could never get enough.

It was then that Makoto realised that despite all of his sickeningly sappy thoughts about his love for his soulmate, he hadn't said it back yet - at least, not properly, how Haruka deserved. Maybe Haruka had been right all along: he truly was an idiot.

He tried to get his eyes to focus again after staring off into the ocean of Haruka's irises, because he wanted to look at him completely, just so there would be no doubt about the sincerity that was weaved through the words he was about to say. When Haruka's eyebrows were raised in question, he murmured, "I love you so much, Haru-chan. With all my heart."

For some reason, despite the nonchalance when he had said it himself, Makoto's confession made Haruka blush a deep shade of red. He quickly looked away, unusual bashfulness grasping him and tugging at his heartstrings as he mumbled, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop with the '-chan' already?"

Seeing his ever-so-composed soulmate rendered so shy all of a sudden made Makoto sigh in endearment. Haruka really was too cute. Thinking that it was his turn to tease Haruka now, Makoto innocently protested, "Eh? But you're the one who gave me permission in the first place, Haru- _chan_ ," with a playful smirk threatening to break through his demeanour.

That was news to Haruka, and he whipped his head back to face Makoto, sporting a big frown as he sceptically questioned, "When did I do that?"

"The day we first met, when I wrote to you for the first time," Makoto supplied without missing a beat, smiling in triumph, "I asked ' _can I call you Haru-chan?_ ' and you wrote back ' _do what you want_ ', thus giving me permission."

Recollection flashed through Haruka's eyes, but he wasn't about to admit it. "I don't remember that," he said as he stubbornly crossed his arms and averted his eyes once again, because he was never able to lie to Makoto's face.

"Oh, but I do," Makoto sang, and Haruka hated the self-satisfaction that was vibrant in his beautiful voice, "In fact, I have _proof_ that you wrote it."

"Proof?"

"Yes, I have pictures of it!" Though they were never taken with the intention to become evidence, Makoto couldn't deny that his habit of snapping photos of everything they put down on their skin came in handy in this situation.

This took Haruka by surprise, and his tone morphed from fierce denial to gentle bewilderment. "You have pictures of it?"

"Hm," Makoto hummed in confirmation, "I have pictures of all of our drawings and conversations. Well, almost all." For a second Makoto feared that Haruka might find that weird or creepy, but those worries were as baseless as all the other ones that darted through his mind in times of doubt.

Haruka's eyes widened, seeming like he didn't quite know how to process that information because of the sheer unexpectedness of it all. The knowledge that the vast majority of the things they had written and drawn weren't lost forever like he had always assumed, but that his soulmate had carefully preserved them, was astounding, yet certainly not in an unpleasant way.

"…Show me," Haruka requested after a moment of silence. The softness of his voice made it clear that he wasn't asking out of disbelief or in a need for Makoto to prove it, but out of interest and curiosity; a genuine longing to see the countless of images of all those treasured memories.

"I don't have the pictures of that exact conversation with me, but…" Makoto muttered under his breath, taking his phone out of his pocket and sliding it open. He scooted closer to Haruka and held his phone between them so they could both see the screen as he looked through his folders.

He opened one called 'Drawings' with a little heart in the title, and Haruka gasped involuntarily when numerous pictures of Makoto's skin showed up. Makoto selected the first and he saw the words he had written on his skin less than an hour ago flash by, followed by the Iwatobi-chan he had drawn earlier, both of which still marked his arm at that very instance. Wishes of goodnight, reminders to get out of the bathtub before the water would turn cold, drawings of simple hearts and elaborate hydrangeas, all of it and more depicted on the little pixelated screen of Makoto's phone.

"These aren't all the pictures I have," Makoto said, tearing his eyes away from his phone to look at Haruka again, "and there are some drawings that I missed because you washed them off before I had the chance to take pictures of them, but other than that, they're all on my laptop or in old photo albums."

Haruka's small mouth was still slightly open in the wake of a gasp, hope shimmering in his eyes as he quietly asked, "So you have pictures from the start? Even of our first drawings?"

Makoto nodded. "My mom wanted to take pictures of my arm full of fish so we had something to 'remember and commemorate' our first interaction with," he explained, full of amused nostalgia as he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "I was glad about that, because I was really sad when your outlines disappeared when you took a bath; I almost cried because I didn't want them to go away. I thought that anything drawn on our skin was permanent."

"Thank _God_ it wasn't," Haruka cut in, teasing smirk fighting to make its way onto his lovely features again, "otherwise I'd still have those blue fish on my arm."

"Hey!" Makoto protested offendedly as he nudged Haruka with his elbow, but he couldn't stop himself from laughing too when he heard Haruka chuckle. "Anyway, my parents told me that even if the ink disappears from our skin, the lines will live on forever inside my heart," Makoto continued, voice softening in reminiscence as he unconsciously grasped at the front of his shirt with his free hand. "But because I liked looking back at the pictures of those fish, and hated the idea of never being able to see something you drew again, I asked my parents to take pictures of everything we drew. It was probably a little annoying, considering how much we sometimes drew and wrote, but they always complied. Do you remember that they gave me a camera for my ninth birthday?"

"Yes," Haruka replied fondly, envisioning the bright, adorable smile he had worn that day, "So up until then, your parents took pictures of everything we put on our skin?"

"Almost, yeah. Sorry if that feels like a breach of privacy," Makoto apologised. Even if the subjects of their conversations hadn't been more than inquiries to play together and childish chatter about random things, in hindsight Makoto still felt bad if Haruka hadn't wanted to share that with anyone but him.

"It's alright, it's not like you had any other choice if you wanted pictures of it."

As always, Haruka was so understanding of him and Makoto's chest filled with warmth. If anything, Haruka only found it odd that over a decade of time spent together, he had never noticed it before. Makoto somehow managed to plan it just so that he was always able to take pictures before he came over or after he left; they rarely drew or wrote anything when they were together, because there was no need for it in person, when they could just say what they wanted to say out loud.

Then Haruka's gaze wandered back to the screen, smiling softly to himself as he muttered, "Besides, I'm just glad you were able to keep all of it saved up."

The implication was crystal clear to Makoto, and because he knew Haruka would never ask himself, he had to be the one to offer it. "I'll show you all the pictures I have sometime," he promised, already anticipating a quiet evening spent lying side-by-side on his bed as they thumbed through years worth of memories together. "And then you'll see that you gave me permission to call you Haru-chan all along!"

Surprised by this twist of events, Haruka huffed as he turned his head away again. "Well, I take it back. I hereby revoke your permission to call me '-chan'."

"What? You can't just do that!" Makoto objected, finding that that was definitely _not_ in the rules of this game they had been playing since a few years back - even though he made it all up just now.

"Oh no? Watch me," Haruka challenged as he looked back at his soulmate with a determined gleam in his oceanic eyes. "Call me 'Haru-chan' one more time and I'll never let you kiss me again."

Self-satisfaction was now vivid in Haruka's expression, and Makoto simply couldn't believe how severely this plan had backfired. Instead of claiming victory as his own and being allowed to call Haruka the childhood nickname he always had without being reprimanded for it, he was now facing the ultimatum of never using it again or never being allowed to do his newfound favourite activity again. Even if this wasn't dead serious, he wasn't about to take this without protest. "Eh?! That's not fair-"

Before he was able to finish his sentence, Haruka's demeanour was demolished by a chuckle of genuine and uncontrollable happiness. "Just shut up and kiss me already, you idiot," he sighed as he stole Makoto's phone from his hand and slid it shut in one swift motion, discarding it beside their bowls of forgotten fruit. Then he wrapped his arms around Makoto's neck and pulled him in for another kiss; that just showed that if you wanted something, you had to go get it yourself.

A smile at Haruka's blunt words was still stretching Makoto's cheeks as their lips met in their fifth kiss. Rather than continuing their playful and meaningless banter, Makoto agreed that kissing each other breathless was the best thing they could possibly be doing right then. So he wholeheartedly kissed Haruka back and he wound his arms around Haruka's waist to pull him closer.

Even after sharing some kisses and steadily getting used to this wonderful sensation, it didn't become any less special or amazing. On the contrary, as the seconds ticked by, the kiss grew more and more heated and intense and it was like no amount of proximity would be enough. Like their souls were screaming for each other and every layer of cloth and muscle and affection that separated their hearts was one too many.

Haruka tightened his hold around Makoto's neck while he simultaneously leaned in his body, pressing their chests flush together. In a tentative need for more, Haruka tread further into unknown yet exciting territory and he opened his mouth slightly to lick at Makoto's lips. A shiver ran down Makoto's spine as he allowed Haruka to deepen the kiss, clutching at the back of his shirt for leverage.

The taste of tangerines was heavy on Haruka's tongue, but Makoto was sure that even without the hint of citrus, their kisses would always be this sweet. Regardless of how heated they would inevitably get in the future, it was mainly a way of expressing their pure and undying affection for each other and that would shine through first and foremost no matter what the circumstances were; though they were now gradually unravelling the pleasures to be found in shared kisses, the desire for it was yielded by their feelings for each other and that would never change.

Fingers tangled in Makoto's brown locks almost desperately, and he wouldn't have thought that the feeling of Haruka's blunt nails scratching lightly at his scalp could feel so heavenly; it was a wonderful addition to an already perfect kiss. Though at this moment, Makoto was so lost in his love for his soulmate that Haruka could do pretty much anything and he would find it just as amazing.

Haruka's lips were so incredibly soft and brushed over Makoto's so tenderly that they whisked any cohesive thought inside Makoto's head away before it could even be formed. It was like every fiber in his being had turned into sugar and he was melting straight into Haruka's arms; he didn't even feel how Haruka gently pulled him down onto himself until he felt his knuckles grazing against the wooden planks of the porch and he had to twist his wrists to support his own weight.

He didn't mind the change of position at all since Haruka never broke the kiss, so there was no room to complain even if he had wanted to. But he couldn't imagine ever complaining; in his heart he knew he would always seamlessly go along with all of Haruka's whims.

Only when that sweet aching re-emerged inside his chest did Makoto tear himself away from this astonishing kiss, but almost regretfully so. His remorse soon disappeared when he opened his eyes and saw the smile that adorned Haruka's flushed features, his small mouth wet and shimmering in the light that poured down on him. Naturally, a matching smile was etched onto Makoto's face.

Before he realised what he was doing, Makoto gently caressed Haruka's cheek with the back of his fingers and he ran his thumb over Haruka's bottom lip. For a moment Haruka's eyes fell shut once more and he exhaled deeply. His breath was warm as it fanned against Makoto's skin, and even after all those kisses, it still smelled like tangerines. Ocean blue was unveiled to meet forest green again, and Makoto could see nothing but affection swimming inside those deep eyes, reflecting the very contents of his own heart.

Haruka pulled him to himself even further, but it was not for a kiss this time. Instead, he tugged at his neck, forcing Makoto down onto his forearms to be wrapped up in his loving embrace. Their chests aligned and Makoto swore he could feel the pounding inside Haruka's ribcage, pace in sync with the intense yet composed thumping inside his own. Alas their positions prevented him from returning Haruka's hug, so he had to settle for second best; he cradled Haruka's face in his palms and pressed a long yet delicate kiss against Haruka's lips. Then the corners of his mouth curled into an infinitely loving smile as he affectionately nuzzled Haruka's nose with his own.

Happiness radiated off of Haruka's face as he removed one of his arms from Makoto's neck to grab ahold of his hand instead, entwining their fingers. Silence lingered as their gazes connected them down to the core, hearts holding a conversation too powerful to be put into words, for their meaning would slip out to vanish in thin air if ever attempted to be spoken aloud. Makoto didn't know if it was like this for all soulmates or if this was uniquely them, but he loved that they were always able to just understand each other regardless of the circumstances. It was a silly thought, but Makoto liked to believe that even amongst other soulbonds, their relationship was a little special.

Although he would have loved to stay like this forever, his arms were starting to burn beneath his weight and he didn't want to accidentally crush Haruka if the strength in his muscles crumbled. Makoto broke away from their intimate exchange at last, but not without a brief peck to soothe the pain of doing so.

There was no way he could part from Haruka's side completely, so Makoto settled for a good alternative: he turned to lie beside him, keeping their hands linked together, and placed his head on Haruka's chest. Right beneath his ear was the rhythmic beating of Haruka's heart and a surge of warmth shot through his veins as he rubbed his cheek against Haruka's shirt. In response, Haruka's free hand found its way back to his neck and he lightly tickled the small strands at the bottom of his hairline with his fingertips, coaxing a hum of contentment from Makoto's lips.

Instead of letting his eyes flutter shut to feel Haruka's touch even more, Makoto decided to take in the atmosphere that surrounded them, for it was truly adding to their little cocoon of bliss. The parts of the night sky that were visible were filled with stars, twinkling brightly and standing out from the varying shades of blue. Though the moon wasn't within sight, Makoto knew it was stunning and shining just as fiercely as it did in his mind.

He couldn't help but smile to himself as he remembered how he used to fantasize about stargazing with his soulmate, long before he even met Haruka. The endlessness of the sky had always been fascinating to him and he could dream away for hours as he stared at the beauty of the night. And without exception, the need to share this with his soulmate would well up inside of him. Even though he understood that wherever they might be, they could see the moon and the stars too, that didn't change that he wanted to experience it together with them. To be enthralled by the universe together, the very universe that created them and blessed them with each other.

This was certainly not the first time they spent the night together and inevitably watched the stars in tranquility, yet it was in a moment as heavy and meaningful as this one that all those memories came flooding back to Makoto. It really showed just how long they had been together already; a decade's worth of things that he had envisioned doing with his soulmate as a little kid that had fortunately all come true.

But there were also many other things that they had gone through together, things that had never crossed his mind when he was younger but were very important nonetheless. Many joyful happenings such as the birth of Ran and Ren, the twin-siblings who had finally completed their family. Alas there had been sorrowful times too, like when Haruka's grandmother passed away and they were all consumed by grief, but Haruka especially - and therefore, Makoto too.

Although Makoto dearly wished that their future only held happiness and that mourning was left behind in the past, he knew that simply wasn't realistic and that life was made up of a balance of positive and negative events. Yet he found that he didn't dread the prospect of that. Haruka and he had been together throughout every high and low, always there to comfort and support each other, to shoulder any burden too heavy to be carried alone. Even if it seemed like the whole world was against them, Makoto was confident that as long as they had each other, they could get through anything.

As long as he had the love and support of his amazing soulmate, Makoto would defy the universe itself if he had to.

There was no need for such dramatic thoughts though, not when the universe had guided him to a moment as lovely as this one: cuddled together with his soulmate beneath the heavens after exploring the wonderful sensations of kissing for the first time, in the comfort and safety of Haruka's home. This was truly a moment worth cherishing and Makoto knew it would be engraved into the walls of his heart to be remembered forevermore.

Struck with an idea, he tore himself away from Haruka's grasp to search for his discarded phone.

"Makoto…?" came Haruka's soft whine of protest, but Makoto only smiled at him.

"This is something that deserves to be captured too."

Haruka sighed and shook his head in fondness. This really shouldn't have come as a surprise, and though he would never admit it aloud, Makoto knew that Haruka appreciated his dedication to their love and his need to have tangible tokens of their most treasured memories. And though they were still living it right now, they both knew that today was a day that they would never forget and would hold dear for as long as they were allowed to walk the road of life together.

Once Makoto had gotten ahold of his phone, he leaned down to lie beside Haruka again. Faces close together, Makoto reached out his arm and smiled sweetly at the camera, hoping that Haruka would do the same. When the picture was taken, Makoto went to look at it to see if they were both nicely in frame and he wasn't disappointed by what he saw: the soft smile that was adorning Haruka's features was so cute that it spontaneously awoke the butterflies in his stomach.

Pleased by the result, Makoto turned his head towards Haruka and closed his eyes, pouting out his lips in a silent request for a kiss. Although he couldn't see it, Makoto could just feel that Haruka rolled his eyes as another sigh of enamoured exasperation escaped his mouth. Nevertheless, he complied and pressed his lips against Makoto's in the desired kiss; just like Makoto, Haruka would go along with any of his soulmate's whims and demands. Makoto smiled as he felt Haruka reciprocate the kiss and he lifted his arm again to snap another photo.

The kiss wasn't immediately broken after the light flashed, because Makoto had discovered that Haruka's lips were so addictive that he simply couldn't end it after a mere second. This feeling was apparently shared, for Haruka's hand came up to cup Makoto's cheek and his thumb gently stroked over his smooth skin. For good measure, Makoto took one more picture, just to be sure.

When their lips ultimately parted, Makoto's grin widened and he placed a small kiss on Haruka's cute nose as a gesture of gratitude for going along with his somewhat ridiculous wishes.

"It may not be a picture of our first," Makoto said when he was studying the image displayed on the little screen, "but I suppose a picture of our eighth kiss will suffice."

"Oh God," Haruka huffed as he looked away in disbelief. "Please don't tell me you're actually going to count them."

Although that hadn't really been his intention, when Haruka brought it up like this, Makoto couldn't help but tease him a little. "Well, maybe I will," he evoked and he put his phone down, biting his bottom lip to suppress the oncoming smirk, "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll make you lose count," Haruka vowed and Makoto's eyebrows quirked in feigned surprise, as if that wasn't what he had wanted him to say. Still, that didn't seem to bother Haruka as he bridged the short distance between them and rapidly placed a series of chaste kisses against his soulmate's mouth, and Makoto snorted at the ticklish feeling. When Haruka pulled back, he shot him a challenging look.

Makoto had to do everything he could not to giggle as he replied, "Twenty-one."

The loud groan that sounded out through the quiet of the night demolished the barrier that held Makoto's amusement at bay and he could no longer keep himself from laughing. Haruka pouted as he shifted to lie on his other side, back facing Makoto as he crossed his arms. This only made Makoto chuckle even more and he wrapped his arm around Haruka's waist, putting his head on Haruka's shoulder and he kissed Haruka's jaw in a silent apology for his playfulness.

This action took Haruka off-guard and when he looked back at Makoto, a tiny smile shattered his demeanour. "You'll lose count eventually," Haruka stated with certainty, because they both knew that it was just a matter of time until Makoto was forced to give up and he would win this silly little game.

Well, Makoto wasn't going to argue that either. But in the meantime, he would definitely enjoy kiss number twenty-two as Haruka faced him completely and their lips met again.

Truthfully, Makoto was so lucky to have been blessed with Haruka. Of all the billions of people on this planet, he could have ended up with pretty much anyone as his soulmate, yet the universe had tied him to Haruka; the most amazing person to ever exist, absolutely gorgeous on the inside and out, the personification of utmost perfection - and Makoto was convinced that he wasn't biased. Not a day would go by in which Makoto wasn't grateful to have Haruka by his side, and he would treasure him for as long as he lived.

"Hey, Haru?" he mumbled after a little while, his soft voice disrupting the serene bubble that engulfed them. When Haruka met his eyes, he continued, "Do you think that…"

He cut himself off in an attempt to rephrase his thoughts, averting his gaze and licking his lips as he tried to find the right words. A hand grasped his, squeezing lightly and when Makoto looked back at Haruka, he nodded encouragingly at him, telling him to take his time to say what he wanted to.

Reassured by Haruka's unconditional support, Makoto felt confident enough to try again. He swallowed and scraped his throat before he said, "You know how there are theories of parallel universes? Of infinite worlds similar to ours but with small changes?"

"Yeah," Haruka answered as he slowly rubbed his thumb over Makoto's skin, eyes never leaving his.

"If there was a universe out there where soulmates didn't exist, and we were all created separately… do you think that we would still be together?"

"I'm sure we would."

Haruka's immediate response took Makoto by surprise, and though he appreciated that Haruka felt that way, he didn't know why he was so certain of that. As always, he didn't need to voice his question for Haruka to understand it, and Haruka peered around them in search for a verbal explanation of his feelings.

"I don't think we're meant to be together because we're soulmates," Haruka murmured, the intensity in his beautiful irises locking Makoto in place once more, just so he wouldn't misunderstand what he was saying. "I think we're soulmates _because_ we're meant to be together."

Makoto's heart melted inside his chest when he processed those words. The knowledge that Haruka felt that way made affection rush through every fiber of his being, and he decided to accept that answer for himself too. It was a comforting thought that no matter what universe they were in, soulmates or not, they would always be together, and nothing could ever change the fact that their hearts belonged to each other. Looking at it from that angle, Makoto believed it too. After all, he simply knew that there could never be another person out there who fit him better than Haruka did; no one who he could love as much as he loved Haruka.

He gave Haruka's hand a small squeeze in return as an adoring smile softened his features. "I love you so much, Haru," he whispered as he raised their entwined fingers to his mouth and kissed Haruka's knuckles tenderly, "More than anything."

"I love you too… idiot."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **I'm going to try my best to get the rest of this story out as soon as I can, so I hope you'll stick around for that.**

 **In the meantime, you can find me on Tumblr and Twitter for MakoHaru content outside of fics and news and little previews in-between updates. I also made a Curious Cat a little while ago so if you'd prefer to send me a message over there then that's possible too. It's all as DatHeetJoella.**

 **Thank you so much for reading, I hope to see you all at the next update and for now I wish you a lovely day! ^^**


	4. 19 & 20

**A/N: Hello and welcome back to chapter 4! I'm sorry it took so long, as some things got caught in between and I didn't think it would take as much time as it did, but I hope this chapter was worth the wait. It turned out much longer than I expected (so much for this fic originally being a one-shot, right?), so I hope that makes up for the long wait a little.**

 **The only other thing I wanted to mention is the rating change from T to M. I've been debating whether or not it was necessary to change it, but I decided to do it just in case. The M rating only applies to this chapter.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter, especially you, Rosie! ^^**

* * *

Clouds of steam filled the air around Makoto as hot water cascaded over his body, tinging his skin pink and making his fingertips prune. He had scrubbed himself from head to toe twice already and was still debating whether or not to go in for a third round of shampoo and soap. It might have been a little silly, wanting to be squeaky-clean when he knew that he was only going to get sweaty again anyway, but the thought of not being as clean as could be for what was about to happen was even worse.

Tonight was the night: tonight, Haruka and he were going to make love for the very first time.

They had been talking about it for a while now. As their relationship slowly progressed, the desire to connect with each other on the purest physical level grew and they began to tread into the undiscovered territories of their soulbond, albeit cautiously.

Needless to say, making love was a special and important milestone in their relationship; for the very first time since their creation, their bodies would entwine and the two halves of their shared soul would merge once more. That wasn't something they took lightly, not something they wanted to rush into, so they had waited until the time was right. Until they were both completely ready and a moment presented itself in which they could focus solely on each other.

And finally, that time had come. The season of competitive swimming was over and they were both granted a short break to relax and recharge before they had to dive right back into their respective fields. The yearning for each other had been building up for months and now, there was nothing holding them back from expressing every feeling that their hearts produced in the other's presence, not affection nor wanton. They could wholeheartedly give themselves to one another and receive the other in return.

Makoto raised his hand once more, hovering between the shampoo bottle and the faucet, but he ultimately decided to turn the shower off. He could keep fooling himself and pretend that he just wanted his body to be as clean as it could possibly be for Haruka, but he knew that wasn't his main motivation. Truth of the matter was that he was stalling time, because he was nervous beyond belief.

Butterflies had been roaming through his stomach all day, his heart beating faster and faster whenever he thought about it. He was excited, had been looking forward to this moment for a while now, yet he couldn't help the hesitancy that welled up alongside the excitement.

He knew he was as ready as could be, but he was afraid of doing something wrong and possibly hurting Haruka in the process. They had touched each other multiple times before so it wasn't like this was all new to Makoto and he didn't know what to do, but it was a pretty big deal nonetheless. Like every other aspect of their relationship, they treated the physical part with utmost care, because they always wanted to make sure that their intimacy was the best experience it could possibly be for the both of them, and that was why Makoto was a bit apprehensive. He just wanted their first time to be perfect for Haruka, but perfection wasn't exactly an achievable goal.

But Haruka was his soulmate, and even if their experiences weren't perfect, they had always been perfect for them. Once he held Haruka in his arms, everything would be alright. Makoto just needed a moment to himself to gather some courage, and he was sure that Haruka did too.

He was still nervous, but it would be odd if he wasn't. The prospect of having sex with the most beautiful human being in the entire universe who just so happened to be the person you love more than anything was bound to make anyone's heart race. In fact, the mere thought of his hands gliding over Haruka's smooth skin as he buried himself deep within him made blood rush to all the wrong places. Makoto was only a second removed from turning the shower right back on and switching the temperature to freezing to compose himself, but fortunately, simply taking a deep breath did the trick. It would be bad if he came undone before anything had even happened.

So he brushed his wet fringe out of his face and got out of the shower. He had made Haruka wait for so long, it wouldn't surprise him if he thought Makoto had slipped and hit his head. Though he supposed that Haruka would have come to check on him by now if he really did think that.

He quickly towelled off his body and put on some comfortable clothes he had laid out earlier. Although he would usually let his hair dry by itself, he decided to blow dry it this time. During the expeditions across their bodies, they found out that Haruka loved running his fingers through Makoto's hair, but he always complained when his hair was still damp. For someone who loved water so much, Haruka sure was particular about these things. Makoto just found it endearing.

When he deemed his hair dry enough, he took a deep breath to ground himself before he left the bathroom.

The artificial scent of tangerines immediately hit his nose. His lips naturally curled up into a smile when he smelled it and saw where it was coming from. All the lights were turned off and dozens of candles were strewn around their small apartment, bathing the whole room in a soft, warm glow.

The sweet, citrusy fragrance that wafted through the air brought along memories of their first kiss, of a mellow summer night and Haruka's fingers on his jawline, his hot breath ghosting over his lips. He supposed it was only fitting for their first time to be dyed in the familiar scent as well, but what he liked above all was that this meant that it invoked the same fond feelings in Haruka.

But the candles weren't the only thing that Haruka had prepared. The curtains were closed, the duvet of their bed had been drawn back and on the nightstand stood - next to the contents of their emptied pockets - the box of condoms and the lube they had purchased together a couple of weeks ago, as well as wet wipes and two bottles of water. He had thought of everything, and it was reassuring to know that Haruka was just as excited about this as he was.

Haruka himself was seated on the bed, hands folded in his lap as he waited for Makoto to finish showering. Figuring that Haruka would need the most time, Makoto had allowed him to shower first, but he hadn't expected that he would be the one to dawdle for so long. Fortunately, there was not a glimpse of impatience on Haruka's face. Like Makoto had suspected, he probably appreciated having a little more time to himself, to think and to mentally prepare for the next big step in their relationship.

Their eyes met and a matching smile appeared on Haruka's face. He pushed himself off the mattress and walked over to Makoto.

"Making love by candlelight?" Makoto said as he wound his arms around Haruka's waist, "Who would have thought that you would be so romantic, Haru."

"Shut up," Haruka muttered, smile growing wider at his soulmate's teasing.

Makoto chuckled, leaning his forehead against Haruka's. He just felt so giddy; the last time he felt like this, so excited and nervous at the same time, was when he first met Haruka at the playground all those years ago. And like it did back then, holding Haruka slowed down his frantic heartbeat and banished every sliver of reluctancy and doubt that had crept into his mind. Everything would be alright because Haruka was here, for now and forever.

Haruka tilted his head, nose brushing over Makoto's in the process and Makoto stole a chaste kiss from his lips. "It's really nice," he whispered, eyes half-lidded. All teasing aside, the candles provided a calm, intimate atmosphere, they set a mood that was absolutely perfect. "Thank you, Haru."

Knowing just how much of a sap his soulmate could be, Haruka only smiled in response before he wrapped his arms around Makoto's neck and pulled him in for another kiss. No matter how many kisses they had shared over the course of the past few years, they were all just as sweet as the first, if not even sweeter. Makoto melted against Haruka's lips, his hands finding leverage on Haruka's waist, squeezing gently in delight.

Haruka's hands strayed down, stroking over Makoto's back to palm at his firm ass. Somehow, his hands always ended up there at one point or another and Makoto smiled into the kiss. Perhaps his butt was his real charm point.

In a need to feel more of his skin, Makoto snaked one of his hands underneath Haruka's shirt and his fingers found the small dimples in his lower back, tracing back and forth between the two and Haruka arched into the sensual touch. Makoto's other hand came up to cup Haruka's face, softly rubbing his thumb over his cheek.

With a low hum of contentment, Makoto ended the kiss and rested his forehead against Haruka's again. Haruka's eyelids fluttered open and his lips remained parted in the wake of that tenderness.

"God," Makoto sighed, looking so deep into the ocean of Haruka's breathtaking eyes that it felt like he was drowning, though in the best way possible. "I just never want to stop kissing you."

Haruka smirked at that. "Then don't," he simply replied before he leaned up on his toes and pressed his lips against Makoto's once more.

This kiss was different than the previous one. It was driven by just as much love, but it was more urgent, more ardent. The yearning that had been bottling up was starting to flow through the seams, and Haruka tightened his arms around him like he could no longer contain it. Makoto definitely wasn't complaining, because his craving was entirely mutual.

Makoto's fingers slid into Haruka's black locks, the roots of which were still a little damp because he hadn't dried his hair properly after washing it earlier. His soulmate was such a hypocrite, but Makoto didn't mind it, for it could never make him love Haruka less. Nothing could.

Suddenly, Haruka broke the kiss, wound his arms around Makoto's neck once more and jumped up, hooking his legs around Makoto's waist. Though it caught Makoto off-guard, his body naturally responded to Haruka's unexpected action and he grabbed ahold of Haruka's thighs to support him. It wasn't just their skin that was linked; their entire bodies were incredibly attuned to each other, like they were in perfect harmony - which wasn't strange as they hosted the two halves of their shared soul.

As their lips met again, Makoto could feel Haruka's growing arousal pressing against his abdomen. Because he was very much in the same state, Makoto decided that this was the point to move things along. So he walked in the general direction of their bed, effortlessly carrying Haruka along, and he stopped when he felt the edge of the bed frame against his shins. Then he turned around and plopped down with Haruka seated in his lap, who immediately pushed at his shoulders so his back hit the mattress.

"Where are the rose petals?" Makoto jokingly asked, staring up at Haruka with a playful grin threatening to break through.

"Don't push it," Haruka advised with a disapproving shake of his head, and then he grabbed the hem of his own shirt and began to take it off.

"Haru, wait!"

Halting halfway through at that outburst, Haruka looked down to Makoto with a frown. "What?"

"I, um-" Makoto stammered, abashedly scratching at his cheek with his finger, "I actually wanted to undress you…"

Haruka snorted at that and pulled his shirt back down. "Then hurry up already."

A genuine smile stretched Makoto's cheeks at his soulmate's considerateness. He didn't need to be told twice. Slipping his hands underneath the fabric onto Haruka's bare skin, he inched the shirt upwards as he slowly dragged his fingers over Haruka's sides. He purposely brushed his thumbs over Haruka's nipples when he passed them, light and brief enough to make Haruka wish for more.

As expected, a sharp gasp came from Haruka's mouth, and when the shirt was completely over his head, he saw the smirk of triumph that was left on Makoto's face. Haruka bit his bottom lip, accepting Makoto's challenge. He snatched the shirt from Makoto's hands and threw it onto the floor before he leaned down and planted his lips on Makoto's again in a fierce kiss, simultaneously rolling his hips against his groin.

In turn, Makoto let out a hint of a muffled moan, the sound of Haruka's victory. But their little game was soon forgotten as they simply lost themselves into the other's tantalising touches, in their deep and sweet kisses and the blooming desire.

They easily fell into a steady rhythm; hands glided over bared skin as pieces of clothing were removed, their breathing becoming heavier and heavier yet their lips never parted for long. The tension between them was palpable and their chests were pressed together, hearts beating as one as their hunger only grew stronger by the minute.

Makoto gently flipped them around so Haruka's back was against the mattress, maneuvering him just so his head rested on his pillow. Although he was allowing his lust for his soulmate to tread to the foreground more, for he had learned that it could be a wonderful thing, Makoto's first priority was always Haruka's comfort. The unconditional love and devotion for Haruka that was ingrained in his every fiber could never take the background, not when it was the driving force behind all his other actions and feelings.

He sat up on his knees and, with a nod of permission, began to tug Haruka's boxers down his legs: the final barrier between their naked bodies. Unlike what he had been expecting, Haruka had slipped on a pair of dark blue boxer-briefs rather than one of his usual fish-patterned or mascot-themed ones. Even though Haruka truly looked amazing in anything, this particular pair was among Makoto's favourites and he really appreciated that Haruka had put thought into it. After all, Makoto had purposely put on his orange and yellow t-shirt too, knowing that it was Haruka's favourite to admire - and occasionally steal.

Once the boxers had joined the rest of their discarded clothing on the floor, Makoto took a moment to let his eyes wander over Haruka's gorgeous body, to drink in his unparalleled beauty.

His fair skin was illuminated by the flickering light of the scented candles, his dark locks spilled messily across his pillow, his cheeks were blazing red and his pupils were blown wide, staring up at Makoto in longing. His lips were so inviting, awakening the deepest part of Makoto with their irresistible charm, as was the rest of him. He was so unbelievably beautiful. There was nothing Makoto wanted more than to make love with Haruka, to shower him in his affection and to worship every last inch of his skin, to experience the heights of pleasure together with him. Yet now that the opportunity to show Haruka just how much he loved him and to bond with him in the purest way had finally arrived, Makoto paused.

As Haruka lied beneath him, bare and vulnerable yet with eyes filled with nothing but limitless trust and respect, Makoto got incredibly overwhelmed all of a sudden. Haruka's beauty, the meaning of the situation, the fact that his soulmate and he were about to go all the way for the very first time, everything welled up and hit him at once, making him feel like he could faint at any given second.

A small hand came up to cradle his jaw, calling his attention back to Haruka and he could finally breathe again. Haruka's eyebrows were knit together in concern in a way that proved that he couldn't just read Makoto's distress on his face, but that he could feel it in the core of his being.

Makoto smiled. As always, just feeling Haruka's touch assured him of his presence and made serenity settle in his stomach. He covered Haruka's hand with his and pressed a kiss against his palm. "You're beautiful, Haru," he murmured into his skin, "so beautiful."

Those sincere words made an unsuppressable smile tug at the corners of Haruka's lips. "Look who's being romantic now," he teased, but Makoto could tell that he really appreciated his compliment.

"I mean it!" he chuckled lightly.

"I know," Haruka assured, his own smile softening at Makoto's breathy laughter, "You are, too."

Feeling the ever-present giddiness rise up inside him once more, Makoto rubbed his cheek against Haruka's palm as he closed his eyes in delight. "I love you," he said when he looked back at Haruka, because his chest was too full not to say it.

"I love you too," Haruka replied and he reached out his free hand to intertwine his fingers with Makoto's, "Are you ready?"

That question popped Makoto's bubble and brought him back to the situation at hand. His smile faltered. In his heart, he was more than ready and his body couldn't wait to hold Haruka close, but his mind was foggy. There were so many contradicting emotions gnawing at him, from lust and excitement to self-doubt and apprehension, and they were holding him back. He wanted to leave it all behind and wholeheartedly lose himself in Haruka, but he couldn't. Not yet.

"Honestly," he started, knowing he should always tell his soulmate the truth, especially when it came to things as important as this. He let out a deep breath before he giggled, "No."

To his surprise, Haruka chuckled too. "Me neither."

For a moment, they just laughed at themselves together. After looking forward to this for so long, now that it was finally happening, they both hesitated. It was good to know they were still on the same wavelength though, even in situations as absurd as this one.

"Come here," Haruka said with remnants of laughter as he held out his arms to Makoto.

Makoto would never turn down Haruka's invitations and he leaned into his embrace. A brief kiss was shared, and then Haruka pulled him down further, hiding his face into Makoto's neck. Not wanting to crush Haruka with his weight, Makoto turned to lie down beside him and cuddled him back tightly now he no longer feared hurting him. Their legs entwined and every part of their naked bodies were pressed together, yet in this skin-to-skin hug, all of the sexual tension that had been budding and blossoming before evaporated.

Silence that conveyed more meaning than spoken words could fell between them. While something like this would usually make Makoto feel incredibly embarrassed and cause for him to want to sink through the floor, he felt absolutely no shame now. Instead, nothing but love and comfort coursed through his veins, warming him from inside out just because Haruka was here.

Even if things weren't quite going how they had planned, it was alright. Haruka and he were soulmates, and there was not a single time in which they couldn't completely be themselves with each other. Their first time was bound to be amazing, and if today was not the day, then that day would surely come somewhere in the future. They would always wait for each other, no matter how long it took.

It might not have been what they had in mind, but snuggling up like this was very nice too. There was nothing in the entire universe that could calm Makoto more than Haruka could, and all of his troubles seemed to vanish whenever they held each other. This time was no exception, and as Haruka was nuzzling his face against his skin, peace replaced every nervous butterfly that had been buzzing through his body.

Wanting to return his touch, Makoto buried his face in Haruka's hair, nose brushing against his scalp and he was pleasantly surprised by the scent of Haruka's silky locks. "Even your hair smells like tangerines," he sighed, breaking the silence yet not disrupting it. When Haruka only hummed in confirmation, Makoto said, "I didn't even know you had tangerine-scented shampoo."

"I've had it for years," Haruka muttered, his lips tickling against Makoto's skin as he spoke, "but I only use it on… certain occasions."

Makoto frowned. He would never doubt Haruka's honesty, but if he had it for so long, then there must have been a time where he had smelled it before, because they had practically been joined at the hip ever since they met. Unless he only used it when they were apart, which Haruka's words strongly implied, but that only made his frown deepen in concern. "Certain occasions…?"

At the sound of the worry laced through Makoto's voice, Haruka pulled back so he could look at him. Makoto's mouth fell open a bit; like him, Haruka was completely naked and at his most vulnerable, without anything to hide behind, but all of his vulnerability was in his oceanic eyes, like he was laying his heart bare to Makoto in a way he never had before.

Haruka swallowed thickly, averting his gaze for a second as he took a deep breath. Then he looked back at Makoto and murmured, "I only use it at times when I'm nervous, or scared, or… lonely. Because it smells like you."

Makoto's jaw dropped further. The scent of tangerines always brought him back to their first kiss too, but he knew Haruka wasn't referring to that. "Like me?"

Haruka nodded. "When we first met at the playground, you smelled like tangerines," he explained, and Makoto's eyes widened in recollection, "That day, I was so nervous that I didn't know what to do with myself. I had always wanted to meet you, but when the moment was finally there, I got scared. I was afraid that you wouldn't like me, that I wouldn't be what you expected or that you'd think I was weird. But then, you called my name and ran up to me and hugged me. You smelled so familiar, and although we hadn't even really met yet, that was the moment when I knew that everything was alright. Ever since then, the smell of tangerines has reminded me of you."

A fond smile stretched Makoto's face at Haruka's anecdote. He remembered their first meeting so clearly, yet he had never paid any mind to the tangerine he had eaten just minutes before, because it was such a tiny, insignificant part of the whole. But that what was insignificant to Makoto had meant the world to Haruka.

"I hope that this is a good occasion, then," Makoto said, because while he was just as nervous as Haruka was, he wouldn't want him to feel scared.

"Of course," Haruka instantly replied, grabbing ahold of one of Makoto's hands. The look on his face was so intense, the tone of his smooth voice relaying some kind of urgency, like he never wanted Makoto to question that. "I'm so happy, especially because there were times when I thought we would never even get to this point. Times when I thought I lost you…"

Haruka didn't specify, but he didn't need to because Makoto knew exactly what he meant.

Fearing that he had driven Makoto away for good with the words he had spoken to him during their first real fight - but Haruka didn't have to worry, because he could never drive him away. Never.

Frantically running around Iwatobi in search for Makoto and getting to the shoreline just in time before he might have lost him to the ocean - Makoto still didn't know what had gotten into him back then and guilt still flooded his senses whenever he recalled it. That would never happen again.

But the worst of all was when the ocean had taken Makoto's breath away and Haruka had to drag his limp body out of the raging waves - it was the worst because it was outside of their control and therefore, all the more terrifying. Makoto couldn't promise him anything except that he'd be careful.

Tears welled up in Haruka's eyes and seeing it broke Makoto's heart. He knew better than anyone how much these experiences had scarred Haruka, how they continued to haunt him, even now. With his free hand, Makoto brushed Haruka's fringe aside and pressed a light kiss to his forehead to comfort him, wanting to assure him of his presence and chase away all his demons.

"When I think back to it, I…" Haruka tried, but he couldn't get the words past his lips. He didn't have to, because Makoto completely understood how he felt. Whenever he thought back to that one day in elementary school when Haruka had fallen into the river and lost consciousness due to his high fever, how scared he had been when he thought that he had lost Haruka, it felt like his soul shattered into a million pieces. It felt like he was dying.

He never wanted to feel like that again, but most of all, he never wanted Haruka to feel like that again. So Makoto would do everything within his might to protect them both, and he knew that Haruka would, too.

Though he tried his best to keep his emotions at bay, a single stray tear leaked from Haruka's eye, rolling over the bridge of his nose. Makoto leaned in and kissed it away before it could fall onto his pillow, squeezing his hand lightly. Then he pressed a kiss to each of Haruka's eyelids, as if to kiss the droplets that hadn't spilled over away too. Haruka sniffed and chuckled softly at the ticklish feeling, and Makoto was glad to hear it. After all, he still thought that Haruka's tears were much too precious to be wasted. He'd much rather hear his beautiful laugh.

A sweet smile adorned Haruka's lips when Makoto pulled back. Something had changed in his red-rimmed eyes, like all of his sorrow had dissipated to make place for fondness. "The smell of tangerines, it comforts me," he continued with new-found resolve, giving Makoto's hand a squeeze of his own, "It reminds me of you, of your kind eyes and your warm smile, and whenever I smell it, it's like I can hear your voice. "Haru-chan, I found you," is what you said, and I know that you'll always find me again. That you'll always be there for me, no matter what."

Those words glued Makoto's heart right back together. He was right: he would always be there for Haruka, and he knew that Haruka would always be there for him too. No force in the entire universe would ever be strong enough to separate them, not even death.

And for every sad, painful memory they shared, there were a thousand good ones to make up for it, memories that they would cherish forever.

A cute blush crept up to Haruka's cheeks when he realised how sappy he had been. Perhaps he was the biggest romantic of the two after all, tying so much meaning to the scent of a fruit. He averted his gaze as he scoffed, "Silly, isn't it?"

Makoto immediately shook his head at Haruka's attempt to brush off his own feelings. "Not at all," he said sincerely, "I actually have something like that too, you know."

Haruka looked back at Makoto, curiosity and wonder swimming through his beautiful eyes. With a smile Makoto held out the inside of his left arm to Haruka, whose eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His skin was blank, as every trace of ink that had seeped into their skin during the day had already been washed off earlier. There was nothing to be seen.

Makoto's smile widened when he saw the puzzled look on Haruka's lovely features. He pointed at a specific spot on the inside of his wrist. "This was where your first little fish appeared fifteen years ago. I was so surprised when I saw it, and my mother explained that it was a drawing that my soulmate made. She said that my soulmate was someone who would always be there for me, who would love and support me no matter what. I was absolutely ecstatic, and though that fish has long since disappeared from my skin, if I focus hard enough, it's like I can still see it now."

"Because the lines live on forever inside your heart, right?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, affection rushing through his veins. "And now, whenever I'm sad or upset, I look at my wrist and visualise the little fish, and I'm reminded that you'll always be there for me. And suddenly, another little drawing appears on my skin, like you're confirming it. It never fails to make me feel better. Thank you for that, Haru."

It was clear that his expression of gratitude caught Haruka off-guard, as his face grew a few shades darker and he let out a shaky breath. "Idiot… you don't have to thank me for that," he muttered, trying to disguise how much Makoto's words had touched him. "You do the same for me. Though lately, you haven't really been drawing much anymore."

"Well, yeah, but," Makoto stammered sheepishly, "I write a lot. I mean, I specifically learned how to read and write when I was younger so that I could talk to you."

"So did I."

That was news to Makoto. "You did?"

"Of course." A frown of bewilderment twisted Haruka's features. "After my grandmother told me about you and we drew the fish, she offered to teach me how to read and write."

"Then why didn't you write to me sooner?" Makoto hadn't meant for it to sound accusing, but he vividly remembered the two minutes of agony after he wrote his very first 'hello' when he thought that his soulmate might have had no idea what he just said.

"I didn't know if you could write yet! I guessed we were the same age and if it weren't for my grandmother teaching me, I wouldn't know yet either."

Granted, Haruka had been a far brighter child than Makoto. He really did his pet name justice, Makoto thought to himself with a snort.

"And also… because I was a little scared," Haruka admitted, voice so low that anyone but Makoto would have missed it. "But that's beside the point," he quickly continued in a louder tone, and Makoto's smile softened at that attempt to skim over the subject. "Point is that I know how to read and write too, but I still draw things on our skin."

"Yeah, but," Makoto said again, "You're so much better at drawing than I am. All my drawings are ugly anyway."

"They're not ugly!" Haruka instantly defended, and Makoto sceptically raised his eyebrow; there was no reason for Haruka to deny it when they both knew it was true. But Haruka wouldn't waver. "I like them. They're cute."

It wouldn't be the first time that their definitions of 'cute' were very different, but this time, Makoto really didn't see the appeal. The average toddler could draw better than him, and that wasn't even insecurity or self-deprecation, just a fact.

"Sure, you might not be the best artist around," Haruka gave in, "but neither am I. But seeing your drawings still makes me happy, just like how seeing my drawings makes you happy. Isn't that all that matters?"

Makoto had never regarded it like that before, because he couldn't possibly imagine why his indecipherable doodles would make anyone happy. But then again, Haruka was his soulmate. He knew that, in the scenario that Haruka wasn't an amazing artist, he would still find his little drawings adorable. So why would it be any different for Haruka?

When viewing it like that, it didn't seem so unimaginable anymore. Who cared if his drawings were ugly? "You're right, that is all that matters," he muttered, brushing a strand of Haruka's silky locks behind his ear, "I'll try to make more drawings from now on."

"Thanks," Haruka responded, a genuine smile lighting up his handsome face, "I'll hold you to that."

Struck with an idea, Makoto said, "I'll prove it." He disentangled his limbs from Haruka's and pulled back, sitting up to search the nightstand for his pen - his umpteenth one, he had long since lost count. When he got it, he turned back to Haruka, waving it in front of him. "May I?"

Curious to see exactly what his soulmate planned to do, Haruka nodded. Upon receiving his permission, Makoto uncapped the pen and gently pushed at Haruka's shoulder so he was flat on his back. Then he crawled on top of him, resting his left hand on the mattress to support himself while his right hand put the nib of the pen down on Haruka's chest.

"You're still writing," Haruka mumbled as he watched the lines appear on Makoto's skin.

"Just wait until I'm done," Makoto insisted with another chuckle, "and close your eyes. No peeking!"

A huff of amusement left Haruka's nose and he let his eyes fall shut, deciding to humour him.

Slowly Makoto drew the pen across the pale expanses of his gorgeous canvas. Although he knew the pen's nib was soft, as he used it on his own skin every day with far less finesse, he still wanted to be as gentle as possible. Haruka truly deserved nothing less after all.

The rhythmic thudding of Haruka's heart beneath his fingers should have made it a bit harder for him to keep a steady hand, but Makoto found the opposite to be true. His own heart naturally matched its pace, feeling the tingles that he evoked himself on the skin covering it, and it gave him more confidence.

Even if the main goal of this was to express himself and to make Haruka happy, he still wanted to make it look as nice as he possibly could, so he took his time to add each layer to the image.

After a few minutes of carefully adding details, Makoto sat back to look at his handiwork. Honestly, it didn't look that good at all, far different from how he envisioned it in his head. If he had drawn this an hour ago, he would have felt a little embarrassed, and yet he was pretty satisfied with it now. He knew that it would make Haruka happy and it would do its job of conveying his feelings perfectly fine.

It was amazing how much his outlook on something could change so much just by his soulmate telling him how he felt. But it wasn't odd since there was no one who could assure him and ground him the way Haruka could.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now."

Haruka blinked a few times before he focused his gaze on Makoto's chest to admire his drawing. Naturally, a loving smile graced his candle-lit features when he saw what Makoto had made.

A galaxy of crooked planets and lopsided stars stretched out over half of his chest. All the planets were scattered throughout the image without any consistency and there were constellations depicted that probably didn't even exist beneath his collar bone. And on top of a planet that floated right above his nipple, presumably the earth, stood two little stick figures, holding hands with a tiny heart above their heads.

But the most important part was the words that were written over his heart. Inscribed amidst the stardust and alongside a shooting star in the middle of the milky way was,

' **I love you to the end of the universe and beyond'**

Seeing that adorable smile made everything worthwhile for Makoto. From now on, he would draw as often as he possibly could because it meant that he would be rewarded with the stunning sight of curled up lips and pearly teeth, a smile that reached all the way up to Haruka's glistening eyes. Even if he couldn't see it when they were apart, he was sure he would be able to feel it in his very core. That smile always made his day infinitely better.

Haruka reached up his hand, and Makoto began to lean down to meet him in what he thought would be a kiss. But to his surprise, Haruka grabbed his pen. He uncapped it again and put his left hand on Makoto's shoulder to steady him while he drew a huge heart on Makoto's right pectoral.

It was more like Haruka to reply with a drawing rather than words, and Makoto smiled in appreciation. He was about to take the pen back from Haruka so he could put it away, but Haruka hesitated.

A look of concentration furrowed his eyebrows, like he was trying to think of an adequate response to Makoto's heartfelt confession. Then he let out a frustrated little huff, and Makoto knew he was beating himself up because he couldn't find the words to describe his feelings with. It was obvious that Haruka didn't want to make it seem like he didn't love Makoto back, and Makoto knew that definitely wasn't the case, so he wanted to assure Haruka that it was fine. He'd never doubt Haruka's love for him; he knew he just struggled to find the right words sometimes.

Makoto opened his mouth to tell him that it was alright, but he halted because of the sheer determination in Haruka's eyes. Finding the right words was a mountain, and Haruka was going to overcome it. The answer to his problem was closer than he expected, and when he found it, he put the pen to Makoto's skin again and wrote inside the heart,

' _ **I love you more than I could ever put into words'**_

Overwhelming amounts of affection flooded Makoto from the inside out when he read that simple yet incredibly meaningful phrase. He could feel tears burning in the corners of his eyes because his love for Haruka had nowhere else to go, but fortunately he was able to blink them away.

That settled it. Makoto was officially the biggest sap of the two.

A smile so wide it hurt his cheeks stretched Makoto's face, and he nearly threw himself onto Haruka to hug him tightly. Haruka let out a breath of amusement at his sudden reaction, but he returned his embrace like he always would, nuzzling his face into Makoto's shoulder and he blindly put the pen back onto the nightstand.

"Thank you, Haru," Makoto whispered. _Thank you for loving me._

"Idiot…" Haruka mumbled, endearment coating his voice and Makoto had rarely felt happier to be called that.

He pulled back to look at Haruka's beautiful face and when he did, Haruka drew him in for a tender kiss. Another one of those invitations that Makoto would never turn down.

As their lips met once more, the atmosphere surrounding them changed. All the hesitancy and nerves that held them back before had vaporised and nothing but trust and certainty was left flowing through their veins. The desire for each other's body had taken a step back to let the desire for each other's heart and mind take the foreground, but it wasn't hard to reawaken their hunger.

"Haru?" Makoto called as he momentarily broke away from Haruka's mouth, wanting him to meet his gaze. When Haruka opened his eyes, he smiled and said, "I think I'm ready now."

Haruka blessed him with a smile of his own. "Me too."

Seemed like today might be the day after all. Makoto was glad. Even if he would wait an eternity and a half if it was necessary, he felt like he could combust from excitement and yearning any second. The fire in Haruka's dilated pupils told him that he felt the exact same way.

Their lips inevitably gravitated back to each other, like the waves of the sea would always lap at the sandy shores again and again. Tension was built in an instance as their arousal was reborn with a mere flick of a tongue and a light caress over warm skin. Their bodies seamlessly resumed from where they had left off, like the brief interruption had never even happened, but it was said interruption that gave them all the assurance and determination they had needed.

Whether it was because the universe had dictated it or because their souls craved each other now more than ever, there was nothing that could keep them apart any longer. Makoto wanted Haruka and Haruka wanted Makoto unlike ever before.

Makoto's lips strayed from Haruka's mouth down to his neck, sucking gently and tasting his skin where the scent of tangerines lingered. He was suddenly overcome with the urge to kiss every last inch of Haruka's gorgeous body, but he was sure that neither of them had the patience for something as time-consuming as that right now. So he settled with just kissing the most sensitive spots within his reach, allowing himself to indulge for just a moment before he went back to obliging to Haruka's every whim.

Preparation was a realm they had already conquered, so Makoto felt confident as his fingers slid inside Haruka. Soft moans escaped through Haruka's lips to colour the air around them and it sounded like music to Makoto's ears. His other hand travelled up Haruka's thigh to stroke and touch him, hoping to coax more unsuppressable tokens of pleasure out of him.

He was rewarded by what he seeked, but along with it came Haruka's hand, prying his away to interlace their fingers. It called Makoto back to attention. He was spurred on by Haruka's lovely voice and wished to hear more of it; making his soulmate feel good was always his main goal, as it was his biggest source of satisfaction, but Haruka was right. He shouldn't make him feel _too_ good just yet.

Haruka used his grip on Makoto's hand to tug him closer and he tangled his fingers through Makoto's thick locks, cupping the back of his head to bring their lips together in a searing kiss. In response, Makoto let go of Haruka's hand to trail his down to one of Haruka's nipples, deciding that it was a fair middle ground between too little and too much.

As the minutes ticked by, Makoto began to lose himself further and further in Haruka. His heart was pounding faster than ever and pure anticipation was pumped through his body with every beat, but he couldn't give in yet. Not until Haruka said he was ready.

Once Haruka gave him the green light, Makoto withdrew himself and wiped the lube off his fingers with a wet tissue. Then he grabbed the box of condoms, opened it and slipped one on, covering himself in more lube - perhaps a bit too much, but better safe than sorry. His gaze naturally met Haruka's and a gentle, resolute smile adorned his soulmate's mouth. Makoto leaned down to capture his lips in the millionth kiss they shared that night.

When he pulled back, Makoto briefly nuzzled Haruka's nose with his before he pressed his forehead to Haruka's. He was drowning in the sea of love and lust and could barely breathe, but Haruka filled up his lungs with fresh air with just a single look, with his trimmed nails running over his scalp and with the flame of yearning dancing across the surface of his oceanic irises.

Haruka breathed new life into him with another kiss, palm drifting over the side of his face to cradle his cheek and he whispered, "Ready?"

Giddiness, nervousness, wanton and affection welled up in Makoto at that question. There was nothing he wanted more than this, and he had never felt so sure about anything before in his life. "Ready."

One more kiss to seal their promise, and then Makoto straightened his back. They entwined their fingers again, palms pressed together to hold onto each other tightly, and Makoto settled his other hand on Haruka's hip for leverage. They waited one second, two seconds with undisrupted eye-contact to give the other the chance to falter, and smiles broke through once more when neither did.

"I love you," Makoto said, the words falling from his lips without any conscious effort.

"I love you too," Haruka assured, and then he gave his hand an encouraging squeeze.

This was it. The moment they had been looking forward to had arrived and there was nothing that could shatter their resolve now.

Slowly, carefully, their bodies met and were joined as one.

If there had ever been a moment in which Makoto had questioned if Haruka really was his soulmate, since it was just too good to be true, then this swept every last one of those doubts off the table once and for all. He had always known that their souls were shared, that their hearts were connected and that their skin was linked, but he had never felt it like he did now.

Peace spread throughout his body, like his soul was sighing in relief as it wrapped its arms around its other half, Haruka's half, in an embrace so secure that they might not be able to part anymore afterwards. He couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything, all he could was _feel_ , deep within the very core of his being, as Haruka and he melded in a way only soulmates could. This connection, this feeling was so incredibly special that he never could have experienced it with anyone but Haruka. Nothing had ever felt more right than this.

The encompassing serenity only lasted for a second before Makoto was brought back to the room. Fireworks of joy and excitement exploded in his stomach as he absorbed everything his senses were exposed to. Overwhelming amounts of adoration and desire washed over him as he saw Haruka's eyes squeezed shut and his pretty mouth hanging open in the onset of a gasp, as he felt him tense up just a little, as he heard the tiniest of whimpers leave his throat involuntarily.

With just that, Makoto finally lost himself in Haruka for good. Haruka had always been his world, but now, he was his entire universe.

Haruka opened his eyes and their gazes met. Wide and genuine smiles simultaneously split their faces in half as Haruka wrapped his left arm around Makoto's neck to draw him in for another hug. While Makoto absolutely loved Haruka's every embrace, the need to see his stunning face was too great to resist. So Makoto kept his head back, staring down into his eyes where only a small ring of that precious blue remained.

A waterfall of emotion streamed down his face, but Makoto didn't even realise that he was crying until he noticed his tears dripping onto Haruka's reddened cheeks. It was contagious; tears spontaneously sprung to Haruka's eyes too, but unlike during their first meeting, he could not keep them in now. And for the very first time, Makoto found that he didn't despise the sight of them. Instead, he adored every droplet that left Haruka's eyes. If they were going to spill over at all, then Makoto wished that they would always spill because of how uncontainably happy he was.

He wanted to tell Haruka how beautiful he was, how much he loved him, praise him to the heavens and back, yet Makoto was completely and utterly speechless. Although he preferred to convey his feelings with words, fortunately there was no one who could read him better than Haruka. The answer to his unvoiced affections came in the form of a smile and a small, chaste kiss pressed against his lips.

When Haruka pulled back and rested his head on the pillow again, his delicate fingers came up to rub Makoto's tears away, making him giggle at the returned favour. Then determination lit up in Haruka's gaze once more as he bid Makoto a nod and light squeeze of his hand.

Makoto didn't need spoken words to understand his soulmate either, and with Haruka's consent, he began to move his hips. Gently, slowly, ever so careful. With his size and build, Makoto found that he was often far rougher than he intended to be, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt Haruka.

Thankfully there was not a trace of pain or discomfort on Haruka's face. Pure love shimmered in his eyes and the lustful expression that Makoto adored so graced his features. Makoto's tongue spontaneously untied itself upon seeing it, but he had forgotten every word that wasn't a variation of his soulmate's name.

 _Haru, Haru, Haruka._

Not even his habit of restraining his voice - that Haruka dearly wished to crack - could hold Makoto's breathy pleads back. Haruka sighed in response, his arm wrapping around Makoto's back to clutch at his shoulder blade and he hooked his ankles around Makoto's hips. Then he began to meet Makoto halfway and Makoto gladly let him set the pace. That way, he'd be sure that it was exactly what Haruka wanted; not too fast, not too slow, not too gentle, not too rough. If it was perfect for Haruka, then it was perfect for him as well.

They fell into a steady rhythm. Beads of sweat formed to roll over their skin as their breathing became heavier, more erratic with every movement. Their lips met in kisses both deep and fleeting, stars clouded their vision as pleasure consumed them from within and neither of them could stop the cries of each other's name.

Any cohesive thought that had ever occupied Makoto's head had long since gone on holiday and he was left moaning and mumbling like the idiot Haruka claimed him to be. But it was alright, because Haruka wasn't off any better and 'Makoto' had never sounded so lovely before.

Makoto's free hand wandered all over Haruka's body in a need to be everywhere at once; from brushing his black locks away from where they were plastered to his forehead, to running his fingertips along his side and touching his erogenous zones. It was nearly impossible to divide his attention properly and he wasn't planning on letting go of Haruka's hand any time soon, so he let Haruka's voice guide him to where he was needed most.

The heat inside Makoto's abdomen spiked up with every synchronised heartbeat and tingles spread throughout his entire body, leaving behind goosebumps on every last inch of his skin. Judging by the way Haruka's nails were starting to dig into his back, his beautiful soulmate was in the same state - which was to be expected when their bodies were finally one like their minds and hearts had always been too.

Making love with Haruka was even greater than Makoto ever could have imagined and he wanted to live in this moment forever. It soothed him and it drove him mad, it was too much and it wasn't enough, it made him want it all and it made him want to do everything for Haruka. Alas, the inevitable end was nearing and Makoto knew he was going to enjoy each and every second of this. The prospect of getting to make love with Haruka more often in the future made things a lot more bearable and, silly as it might have sounded, he was already looking forward to it.

Electricity that had been building up was released as explosions of pleasure sent shocks throughout their bodies. Haruka arched up into him and they held onto each other for dear life as they reached their climax together. Not once did they let go of each other's hand as they rode out the waves of bliss, as their souls ascended to the heavens.

A few seconds or a few eons later, Makoto's soul returned to his body. He was panting and heaving and it felt like he was on fire from the inside as the relatively cool air of the room ghosted over his sweaty skin. His vision was blurry as he tried to focus on his soulmate's face, but he couldn't register much before he practically collapsed on top of him, resting his ear over Haruka's heart.

The frantic thumping inside his chest matched Makoto's own and as their breathing tried to regain their normal rhythm, their hearts gradually slowed down as well. Haruka wrapped his arm around him and rubbed small circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. It was calming, and Makoto closed his eyes to enjoy the tranquility.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me."

The sound of Haruka's husky voice made him lift his head back up. Admittedly, he was very comfortable and a little sleepy, and he could easily drift off like this. But it wasn't like he was going to just nod off and leave Haruka with the mess. He would finish what he started, and he planned to bask in the afterglow alongside his love for at least a bit longer.

"I won't," he assured, and he pressed a quick kiss to Haruka's sternum before he forced himself to get back up, letting go of Haruka's hand at last. First he removed the condom, then he began to clean them both up with a bunch of wet wipes.

As he was wiping the sweat off of Haruka's torso, his gaze fell on the drawings they had made on each other earlier. To his relief, none of the ink had run out nor smudged because of the friction, and they were still completely intact for a photo; something that Makoto had never forgotten to take before but that had somehow slipped his mind up until now - if anything, that just proved how much impact Haruka had on him, making the entire world around him disappear until only the two of them remained. Investing in a good quality skin-pen truly came a long way.

When he deemed it good enough for now, he turned back to Haruka and asked, "Better?"

"Yes."

Makoto smiled when Haruka held out his arms and he dove right back into his embrace. He turned to lie on his side to spare Haruka of his full weight. With so much emotion still charging their bubble, there was no way they could stay apart any longer. Instantly they snuggled close together, entwining their legs and tightening their arms around each other.

His mouth was probably red and almost raw from kissing so much, but that could never keep Makoto from bridging the distance between their faces to press his lips against Haruka's to kiss him some more. The kiss was quick and chaste because they were both still a bit out of breath, but that didn't make it any less sweet.

The encompassing serenity returned as he leaned their foreheads together again, noses brushing in the hint of a nuzzle. As he was staring at his soulmate's gorgeous face, the realness of the situation hit Makoto all over again. Haruka and he had actually made love, their bodies had become one like their minds and hearts and souls had been for so many years now and it had felt so good. So unbelievably good. He hadn't thought that it was possible, but he felt like Haruka and he had grown even closer through this experience. Now they were truly connected in every sense of the word.

And thus the tears began to flow again. Not just from Makoto's eyes, but from Haruka's too. Unabashedly and seemingly unpromptedly, because neither of them had even said anything, but it clearly wasn't necessary. They couldn't help but laugh at how sentimental they were being.

"We are so stupid," Haruka chuckled, rubbing at his eyes with his wrist to will the tears away, and then he smiled and caught the droplets on Makoto's face with his fingertips.

"We're not stupid," Makoto defended with remnants of amusement lacing his tone, "It's a normal reaction to something so… so special," he said after a moment of contemplation. While he usually excelled in explaining what he meant and voicing his feelings, the right words to describe how making love with Haruka had felt were simply not existent in any written or spoken language. It was new and exciting, filled with passion and love and wanton, yet it also felt familiar, like coming home. A perfect combination of physical pleasure and mental bliss. "I mean, did you not _feel_ that?" he asked rhetorically with a chuckle of giddiness.

"Does this look like I didn't feel it?" Haruka shot back, blessing Makoto with a rare, wide smile as he sniffed and successfully repressed the next wave of tears.

Of course Haruka had felt it too. He could read on his stunning face, unveiled and devoted, that every shock and every tingle that went through his being had gone through Haruka's too. Nothing had changed, not really, but they had found another way to lose themselves in each other and that bid an entirely different perspective on what they already had. They would definitely continue to delve deeper and deeper into the world of intimacy and discover exactly what they liked, but there was one thing Makoto knew for sure: he would never get used to this feeling.

"I love you, Haru," Makoto sighed with an affectionate nuzzle of his nose and a small kiss pressed to his mouth - and teeth. The flame of love inside of him, ignited by Haruka's mere presence, couldn't possibly be doused for it burned brighter than the biggest star. It would forever lit up an adoring smile on Makoto's face whenever he saw or simply thought about his amazing soulmate. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Haruka murmured, and while a confession like this often made him avert his eyes, even just a little, he didn't waver at all when he said it now.

The words warmed Makoto's heart like they always did, yet the look of confidence and trust that was vibrant on Haruka's face while he spoke them made it skip a beat. Makoto could barely remember a time when he had felt as loved, as safe, as at peace as he did right then.

"I just never want this moment to end," he whispered softly, like it would somehow slip away from them if he said it too loudly.

"Me neither."

They might not be able to stop the clock from ticking and freeze themselves in this fleck of time, in their very own apartment surrounded by the artificial scent of tangerines and the security of each other, but there was a way to encapsulate this moment so they could cherish it for years to come.

Makoto leaned up and reached behind himself to search for something on the nightstand.

When it dawned upon Haruka what Makoto was doing, he huffed, "Are you serious? Now?"

"What?" Makoto questioned innocently, retrieved smartphone in hand. "This is a special moment that I want to capture."

"But do you have to take a picture of it? You can just remember it."

The smile on Makoto's face morphed into a mischievous smirk. "Well, what if I can't? I don't want to risk ever forgetting how red your beautiful cheeks are right after you-"

"I'll make sure you won't forget," Haruka promised, cutting off his soulmate's teasing. "So you don't need to take a picture."

"Come on, it's just for us," Makoto insisted, knowing that Haruka was just being stubborn for the sake of it. While he definitely liked the idea of Haruka's frequent reminders, their first time would forever be an important experience, one that he wanted to have a visual memory of. "I won't show anyone else, and I won't go below the belt."

Another sigh left Haruka's mouth, but Makoto recognised it as a sigh of compliance. He hadn't expected anything else, for even if he was incredibly weak to Haruka, he knew the opposite was just as true. He grinned as he pressed the front camera option and lied back down next to his obstinate soulmate.

Like he had expected, Haruka immediately wrapped his arm around his torso as Makoto leaned his head against his, showing the camera a sweet smile that spontaneously made Makoto's heart sing. Makoto was so glad he had upgraded his old phone to a new smartphone back when they moved to Tokyo. This phone's camera was of a much better quality and he needed this beautiful, beautiful sight in high definition. He didn't have to make a conscious effort to smile for the picture himself, as one naturally stretched his cheeks upon witnessing Haruka's cute expression.

Haruka had always been unbelievably cute, yet tonight every feeling and thought Makoto had about him was heightened and he never wanted it to stop. His insides melted and turned to goo from fondness and endearment, and he quickly snapped a couple of pictures before the moment could pass them by.

Their faces, red from exertion yet radiating with everlasting happiness, were lit up by nothing but the warm glow of the candles. They provided more than enough light for a clear image, which Makoto was glad about; the flash would surely destroy the fuzzy and intimate atmosphere, one of the key things he wanted to be captured. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on the point of view - scented pictures hadn't been invented yet, so the orange hue that was cast over them would have to represent the tangerine fragrance that surrounded them. Makoto was certain he'd be able to smell it whenever he saw these photos.

Once he was sure that Makoto had plenty of pictures of this, Haruka planted a prominent yet delicate kiss on his cheek. Makoto's smile softened. While Haruka always moaned and complained whenever Makoto pulled out his camera or phone again, they both knew it was just a facade and he secretly loved looking back on their dearest memories too. Knowing that this would definitely make Makoto smile, Haruka even initiated a pose for their collection - that, or Makoto's blushing cheek was just too tempting to resist.

Whatever it might have been, Makoto wouldn't pass up on this opportunity and he took a few pictures before Haruka had the chance to change his mind.

Then he lowered his outstretched arm and turned his head to meet Haruka's lips with his own. Seeing those enticing lips on his phone's screen certainly made the temptation too great for him to resist, and he saw absolutely no reason to hold himself back.

Haruka hummed against his lips as they kissed slowly yet incredibly tenderly. He truly wasn't lying when he said that he could do nothing but kiss his wonderful soulmate for the rest of their lives, but Makoto willed himself to pull back before he lost track. Forgetting the same thing twice in the span of a few hours was bad, even for an idiot like him.

He sat up, phone in hand, and switched the camera modes back. Pointing it at Haruka's chest, he took a picture of their drawings and declarations of affection, first a couple of them together, then some individual ones.

"Shouldn't you be taking pictures of your own chest?"

Haruka's question caught him off-guard. "Why?"

"You always take the pictures of our drawings and writings on your own skin."

"Yeah, because that's just easier," Makoto reasoned, "I can't take a picture of your arm if you're not here. But now that you are here, this is easier. Plus your body is more beautiful than mine anyway."

"It's not," Haruka immediately refuted, "But it's not right if you always take them of your own skin and now they're suddenly of mine. It should all be the same, of your skin."

"Does it really matter?"

"It does," he insisted, "Our bodies and skin tones are different, so you can instantly tell the difference."

Makoto honestly didn't care about things like that: as long as everything was preserved, it didn't matter whose skin was in the picture. But since Haruka did care, he simply shrugged and handed his smartphone to Haruka.

Pleased by his compliance, Haruka took the same series of photos of Makoto's chest, and once he was satisfied, he gave the phone back. "There, that's enough pictures for now."

Makoto thumbed through the images, and he found that there was barely any difference between the ones that Haruka took and the ones that he had taken. If it made Haruka happy, then that was all that mattered, he reasoned as he put the phone back on the nightstand without second glance. There was nothing in the world interesting enough to distract him, to divert his attention away from his love.

Meanwhile, Haruka had crawled to the edge of the bed and was searching through their discarded clothes on the floor. He grabbed their boxers from the top of the pile and flung Makoto's onto his lap, slipping his own on before he continued to rummage through the remaining pieces. Then he pulled out Makoto's shirt and Makoto held out his hand to accept it, but to his surprise, Haruka put it on too.

"That's my shirt," Makoto remarked. Haruka plundered his closet on the regular, but today he had worn a shirt of his own and he seemingly had forgotten that.

" _Our_ shirt," Haruka corrected before he turned to lie back down, satisfied with his haul.

This was no mistake, that much was clear, but Makoto didn't mind it. He never could. "What am I supposed to wear now?"

"You can have my shirt," Haruka offered with a shrug, "or actually, don't wear anything at all. I prefer it like this," he teased as he stole Makoto's underwear out of his grip and ran his hand down Makoto's torso. "Perfect view of your perfect body."

Makoto couldn't help but giggle lightly at the combination of Haruka's playful yet sincere words and the ticklish feeling of his fingers travelling over his skin. As if on cue, Makoto's stomach began to rumble when Haruka's hand trailed past it.

"Hungry?" Haruka asked with a chuckle of his own.

"I guess." Makoto's heart had been so full of love that he hadn't even noticed that his stomach was empty; his hunger for Haruka's soul and body had drowned out his actual hunger.

"Me too, a little."

"What do you want to eat?" Makoto wondered. The last thing he wanted was to cook an entire meal and leave their bed for long, because he'd rather spend that time cuddled up with Haruka. But if Haruka wanted mackerel, then he'd be in the kitchen in an instant trying his best not to burn it and ensuring that he used sugar instead of salt.

"I know," Haruka said as he pushed himself to the edge of the mattress and swung his legs over it.

Makoto immediately knew what he had in mind and smiled. "It's okay, I'll go get them." He had told himself he'd take care of Haruka after this, since Haruka always took such great care of him too. It was only right to return the favour, especially because he could imagine Haruka's legs weren't exactly eager to stand up and stroll about. Regardless, he wanted to spoil Haruka every day of their lives but his soulmate was so independent, so now he finally had a valid excuse to indulge the both of them.

He got up from their bed, looking at Haruka expectantly. With a sigh Haruka gave in and threw his boxer-briefs at him, though regret was vivid in his eyes. As a compromise, it was the sole article of clothing Makoto put on before he walked towards their tiny kitchen. He came back a few seconds later with four tangerines and a couple of paper towels in hand.

In his enthusiasm, he plopped down next to his soulmate a bit too harshly, making Haruka's body bounce slightly with the sudden impact. There he went again, carelessly moving around without paying any mind to his size and weight.

"Sorry," he muttered sheepishly. Haruka only smiled and shook his head dismissively, long since used to Makoto's clumsiness. "Which ones do you want?" Makoto asked, offering all four of the tangerines to let Haruka choose his favourites.

"Doesn't matter," Haruka shrugged as he simply grabbed two out of Makoto's hands, also taking one of the paper towels he brought.

Makoto adjusted himself in an attempt to get comfortable, leaning his back against the headboard and folding his legs beneath him. Nearly two decades and countless of tangerines later, he had learned to peel them with muscle memory alone, so he could eat his fruit without tearing his eyes away from his gorgeous soulmate.

He admired the graceful movements of Haruka's deft fingers as he split the skin open with his nails. It never ceased to amaze Makoto how Haruka could peel tangerines in one go; his own peels always ended up being broken into dozens of little chunks, which could be a real hassle to clean up - hence the paper towels kept beneath his hands, else he would be finding scraps of tangerine peel between the sheets tomorrow. Haruka's hands were so nimble and precise, it was a joy to watch them do anything, whether it was drawing or writing, carving through the water to swim, and even cooking and peeling fruits. Perhaps Makoto just enjoyed watching Haruka in general.

As expected, the peel of Haruka's first tangerine came off in one big swirl, but to Makoto's surprise, Haruka began to rip it into smaller pieces himself.

His eyebrows furrowed and he opened his mouth to ask him what he was doing as Haruka placed the little chips of peel between them on the mattress, but then Haruka turned to him and grinned.

"Tangerine petals."

Makoto snorted. "How romantic," he said in an exaggerated tone, "Next time we should eat them before we have sex."

"Yeah," Haruka concurred, shaking his head in amusement as he picked the 'petals' up and put them back on his paper towel. Though arguably, tangerines were more personalised to them than roses, making love between the peels was probably more of an uncomfortable nuisance than a mood enhancer. They didn't need something corny like that anyway. All they needed was each other.

Plucking a little string off the first piece, Makoto popped it into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. It was sweet, but a bit too watery for his liking. He couldn't complain though; only about a month until it was peak tangerine season again, and amongst other things, he was already looking forward to it.

At the same time, Haruka's nose scrunched up with disgust. "This one's sour."

"Do you want to switch? This one is sweeter," Makoto proposed as he held out his tangerine.

"No, it's fine. I can handle sour things better than you. You hate sour tangerines."

He was right, but Makoto was still willing to eat the sour one for Haruka. Though he supposed that Haruka felt the exact same way.

Hit by another idea, Makoto tore another piece off the bunch, cleared it of the most prominent strings and held it to Haruka's lips. "Here, we can share them. Both the sweet and the sour one."

Rather than one of them sacrificing themselves to carry the burden alone, they could come so much further by dividing it and shouldering the weight equally, with a reward of sweetness to alleviate the pressure.

It had been something they had gradually learned over the years, but it was so much better to share everything, both the good and the bad, than to try to shield the other from the pain. It definitely hadn't been easy, as the urge to protect and spare the other the trouble often won the fight. Now that they realised it, they worked hard every day to improve themselves, to maintain that perfect balance in their relationship. Contrary to what they had always presumed, it made them both so much happier in the end.

Blue eyes softened in understanding and another heart-stopping smile adorned Haruka's mouth. He gently accepted the proffered piece with his teeth, but kept it there, looking at Makoto expectantly.

It took a second for Makoto to understand what Haruka was hinting at, but when it got through to him, he smiled too. He leaned forward and bit into the protruding half, kissing it off of Haruka's mouth. The piece of tangerine burst open between them, leaving them with sticky lips, but that was a price that Makoto was more than willing to pay.

Haruka hummed. "Now that's sweet," he said as he licked his lips, and it was quite obvious he wasn't talking about the tangerine.

Makoto chuckled lightly, grabbing one of the paper towels to wipe his mouth. "This is so much easier with pocky."

"Maybe we just need more practice," Haruka shrugged, smirking suggestively.

"We don't need tangerines for that," Makoto commented, and to prove it he stole another kiss from Haruka's lips; he figured that if Haruka stole his shirt, it was his right to steal something he desired back.

After sharing some sugary kisses, they pulled back to attend to their forgotten fruit. Silence wrapped around them, filling their little bubble with blissful tranquility as they ate and traded their tangerine wedges. It was odd how something as simple as a fruit could hold so much meaning to them, and yet, the more Makoto thought about it, the more significant they became.

"You know, Haru, I was thinking…"

"Were you now?"

His soulmate was clearly in a teasing, flirtatious mood, and though Makoto wouldn't tell him, he loved the occasions when this side of Haruka came out to play. "Yes," Makoto laughed, nudging Haruka with his elbow. "I was thinking, tangerines have been a part of pretty much all of our most important memories. I was eating one the day you first drew something for me, the day we first met, we had some the day we first went to the swim club." Warmth spread throughout his heart as he recalled those special times. "Our first kiss, the day we moved here, to Tokyo, and now, after our first time…"

"And you only realise this now?" Haruka questioned, cocking his eyebrow in a mixture of disbelief and amusement - the 'you really are an idiot' part died out on his tongue, but Makoto could hear it loud and clearly.

That was not at all what Makoto had expected him to say, and blood rushed to his cheeks. "Well, I mean, I-" he stumbled, and his flustered reaction only made Haruka snicker. "Obviously I knew, but I just never put that much thought into it. Did you?"

Haruka quickly shoved a handful of tangerines in his mouth as he averted his eyes.

"You did!" Makoto yelped, lifting the slices and holding them up to Haruka's face, "Did you plan this?"

"Not _plan_ …" Haruka mumbled through his mouthful, the tinge of pink on his cheeks turning into a beet red to match Makoto's.

Haruka could deny it all he wanted, but Makoto knew exactly what was going on. He had bought the tangerines for the occasion, but there was no guarantee that they were actually going to eat them today. So he had lit up all the candles not just to add to the atmosphere and remind them of their entwined past, but also to ensure that their tradition would live on. It was honestly too adorable.

"You're so romantic, Haru."

"Will you shut up already?"

"What? It's cute!" Before Haruka had the chance to protest, Makoto pressed their lips together once more, kissing every objection away before it could form. "It's really nice," he continued in a more serious tone, "We should keep this up. Have tangerines every time something special or important happens."

"But we never know when something special or important will happen," Haruka reasoned. Unlike today, most meaningful moments weren't planned beforehand, but unravelled naturally.

"That's true," Makoto concurred, but he was in far too good of a mood to let something precarious destroy his happiness. "So we should make sure we always have some in case something does happen."

"You'll grow to hate them if you have them so often," Haruka remarked, shaking his head in mirth.

"I could never hate something that I share with you."

Haruka's smile widened. "We'll see about that."

Only time would tell, but Makoto was sure that he would love them forever; where Haruka had always associated the scent of tangerines with him, Makoto knew he would associate their sweet, sweet taste with his even sweeter soulmate for as long as he lived.

Once their tangerines were finished, they wiped their fingers on some multifunctional wet tissues and washed the remnants of fruit down with some water. Haruka shoved their trash onto the nightstand to be dealt with later and lied back down, pulling at the duvet to cover them with it.

"Are we going to sleep now?" Makoto asked, watching how Haruka settled himself beneath the blankets.

"I guess?" Haruka replied. "Why?"

"Aren't you supposed to pee after having sex?" Makoto said sheepishly.

"You were wearing a condom, so you're fine. Probably," Haruka shrugged.

"Still. Don't you have to go to the bathroom?"

"Not really. Besides, I'm not getting up." To prove his point, he nestled deeper into his duvet-cocoon.

"I can carry you if you want," Makoto offered, holding out his arms.

"No thanks," Haruka brushed off, yawning lightly. It didn't surprise Makoto that he was tired, as he usually would have nodded off already by now, especially after coming undone.

"Don't you want to take another shower before we go to bed?" Makoto wondered, knowing that Haruka didn't like going to sleep all sweaty and gross. When Haruka merely shook his head, he pressed on, "We should at least brush our teeth before sleeping."

"Later. Let's take a nap first," Haruka insisted, tugging at Makoto's arm to get him to lie down beside him. "It's better to wait half an hour after eating before brushing your teeth anyway. Come on. Everything else can wait."

"Alright, alright, you win," Makoto gave in with another chuckle. He had been fighting a losing battle, and he knew that the second it started. But before he went to lie down next to his persuasive soulmate, he got up to blow all the candles out. Haruka already lit up a fire inside his being every waking moment, no need for the candles to actually set their apartment ablaze while they were asleep.

When he stepped back in bed, Haruka immediately wrapped his arms around him to hold him tight, and Makoto couldn't do anything but return his embrace, squeezing him gently. Their lips met again in a flavourful kiss goodnight.

"Thank you, for tonight," Haruka whispered, his warm, citrusy breath fanning against Makoto's skin. "I love you."

"Thank _you_ ," Makoto emphasised as he leaned his forehead to Haruka's, staring right into his mesmerising, half-lidded eyes, "for every day up until now, and for every day yet to come. I love you too."

Haruka sighed and rolled his eyes at Makoto's ability to always one-up him when it came to words, but Makoto knew it was done with fondness. "I love you more," Haruka tried, as it was the best he could come up with, mainly thanks to his drowsy state. It was all Makoto needed.

"Agree to disagree," he concluded, knowing it could otherwise turn into a never-ending cycle of back-and-forth; he would never give in, and he was sure his other half wouldn't either. Then he kissed Haruka again, for even after all those kisses, the desire to feel his lips against his still hadn't dwindled in the slightest.

Eventually, their lips parted when the sleepiness kicked in even harder. The remaining abundance of kisses burning on their lips would have to be postponed until later as well.

"Goodnight," Haruka murmured, combing his fringe away with his fingers and pressing a final kiss to Makoto's forehead. Then he pulled him against himself, nuzzling his face into Makoto's hair as his fingertips rubbed the spots on his back that his nails had imprinted during their peak.

Soothed by his gentle massage, Makoto gladly buried his head in the crook of Haruka's neck, where the fragrance of his shampoo entered his nose once more. "Goodnight."

Completely enveloped by his soulmate and the scent of their love, Makoto closed his eyes and relaxed his body. Between overflowing safety and affection, it didn't take long before they both dozed off, reliving all the warmth and pleasure they had experienced together in their dreams. This perfectly flawed day would be ingrained in their memories and live on inside their hearts forevermore, dyed in the sweet scent and taste of tangerines and their undying feelings for each other.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! If you did, I'd love to hear it :)**

 **Only one more chapter to go, so I'm going to try my best to get it out as soon as possible. I hope you'll stick around for that one too.**

 **As always you can find me on Tumblr, Twitter, and Curious Cat for MakoHaru content in-between updates. I also talk about my writing quite a lot on Twitter, so anything regarding this fic and the next update should appear there first.**

 **For now, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to see you again soon. In the meanwhile, I wish you all a wonderful day!**


	5. 26

**A/N: At last, we have arrived to the fifth and final part of this fic. It's been exactly a year since chapter one was posted, and I thought it would be fitting to post the conclusion of this story on the same date. This is the longest chapter yet, so I hope it makes the year-long running period worth it.**

 **I hope you enjoy! ^^**

* * *

Snow was steadily piling up in front of the windows, hinting at an oncoming winter storm, but with his legs settled beneath the kotatsu and a steaming cup of tea in his hands, Makoto felt nothing but warmth.

At first, he hadn't been too keen on the idea of buying a kotatsu. It had just seemed so unnecessary, considering they had a couch on which they could snuggle up together underneath a heap of blankets on the coldest nights. A waste of money, as they likely wouldn't use it much.

But Haruka was adamant. Unlike Makoto, he grew up with the strongest of winters spent around the kotatsu with his family, the warmth emitted by the heater lulling him to sleep time and time again. He wanted that tradition to live on, to be able to feel that peaceful comfort whenever he craved it, so they were going to have a kotatsu whether his soulmate liked it or not.

Makoto could never deny Haruka something he truly wanted, so when they moved into this apartment after graduation, they purchased the full set. Although he had his doubts before, he had to admit that Haruka was right; this kotatsu was a great investment.

Even if most nights were spent on the couch like Makoto had predicted, on occasions like these when he had to sit at the table to work, the radiating heat felt like heaven to his legs and feet. He wasn't as accustomed to it as Haruka, as the only times he had sat down at them in the past were when he was over at Haruka's or his grandparents' place, but he could definitely get used to the cosy clutch the kotatsu captured him in. He just never wanted to get up again.

Fortunately, he didn't have to any time soon. Everything he needed was right in front of him: his laptop, an assortment of pens and markers, scissors and a glue stick, sheets of stickers and other paraphernalia, an empty book and a folder full of pictures to go in said book, and of course the cup of tea to warm him from within during the process of throwing it all together.

After taking a small sip, Makoto pushed the cup to the back of the table to keep it out of his way - with his luck, he'd probably end up spilling it all over his work if he wasn't careful. He adjusted his glasses on his nose, cracked his knuckles and opened the book to start on page one.

"What are you doing?"

Fresh out of the tub with a towel hanging around his neck to catch the water dripping from his wet hair, Haruka entered the living room. He was wearing one of Makoto's hoodies that was far too large on his lithe body, yet it looked absolutely perfect on him - anything did.

Makoto smiled. Two decades had passed since they met, but his stomach still fluttered with butterflies whenever he laid eyes upon his beautiful soulmate, whenever he heard his smooth voice. "Making a photo album."

"Really?" Haruka asked, sceptically raising his eyebrow.

While it was common knowledge how much Makoto valued the pictures taken throughout their lives so far, arts and crafts really weren't his thing at all and from the looks of his supplies, this was a rather ambitious project. Makoto couldn't stifle a chuckle at how clearly this observation appeared on Haruka's face. He nodded in confirmation.

"Why?"

"Because," Makoto started, "all of our old photos are at my parents' house in Iwatobi and at your parents' in Hokkaido, so we can't see them whenever we want. And our new photos are all on our laptops or phones, and I want to have everything in one place. A physical book that we can thumb through whenever we want."

That wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either. This scrapbook was going to be so much more than that; he was going to use it to propose to Haruka. Each page would contain a piece of their shared lives so far to make a timeline of their love, and the last ones would be filled with his words of adoration, the big question and, of course, the ring he had gotten him.

This project had been in the making for months now. He had been meaning to finally propose to Haruka for quite some time, but he didn't know how. Although he was sure that all he had to do was ask and Haruka would say yes anyway, he wanted to put some effort into it, because Haruka deserved all the effort in the world. His proposal had to be special and meaningful, something that was unique and fit them perfectly. Even if he would have liked to scream his love for his amazing soulmate from every rooftop in the city, he knew Haruka didn't like being the center of attention and would appreciate something small, something just for the two of them much more.

After a while of pondering, Haruka delivered this idea to him personally. One morning he woke up to find the other side of their bed empty, and there was a note on the inside of his arm that read,

' _ **Good morning. We ran out of eggs for breakfast so I'm heading over to the convenience store. I'll be back soon x**_ '

Makoto had reached up to check the time on his phone and took a picture of Haruka's message while he was at it. Feeling way too lazy to get up yet, he lied back down and decided to scroll through the pictures on his camera roll. Then, at nine o'clock on an ordinary Sunday morning, he suddenly had an epiphany.

He had instantly jumped up and called his mother, knowing he only had so much time until Haruka would return. He explained his plans and she agreed to scan all the old pictures she had of them and to email them to him. Then he rang up his soon-to-be mother-in-law with the same favour to ask. Knowing that he would have a hard time concealing his excitement from Haruka, Makoto was glad he could share his big secret with their moms, otherwise he might have burst and blurted a rushed proposal the second Haruka came back.

So the plan was set in motion and thankfully, he had been able to keep everything hidden from Haruka up until now. It hadn't been easy, for even if he would give him all the space and privacy he needed, Makoto had never been good at keeping things from his soulmate. He knew for sure that he couldn't actually make the scrapbook while he was home alone. Their schedules were nearly the same and they loved spending their free time with each other way too much, so he had no choice but to eventually let Haruka know that he was making it. That didn't mean he had to spill all his secrets, though.

"Hm," Haruka hummed in response, not seeing any reason to question it further. "If you're working on that, can I make a painting on your back?"

"Eh, but I already took a shower earlier," Makoto objected, for even if he'd do anything to make Haruka happy, he really didn't feel like getting up from his warm spot. Especially not for a shower when he had already taken one an hour or so ago.

"We can take a bath together afterwards."

"You literally just came out of the bath," he remarked with a frown.

Haruka simply shrugged, and Makoto should have expected as much. His soulmate was in love with the water almost as much as he was with him, so having to take another bath together with Makoto was absolutely no punishment for him.

Ever since they moved into this apartment, Haruka insisted on taking one together at least once a week. The tub in their old apartment was far too small to host the two of them, so Haruka argued that they had to make up for those lost years of cuddling together in warm water. Makoto would be lying if he said that he didn't like it too.

"I'm all out of canvases and I really want to paint this right now," Haruka said, and if he wasn't persuasive enough already, he added, "I'll scrub your back later."

That did sound very tempting; though Makoto didn't feel like getting up from the kotatsu any time soon, the idea of trading it in for a hot bath shared with his soulmate wasn't an awful one. He had at least a day or two more to finish this proposal-book, so after working on it for a few hours today, he had plenty of time left to indulge both Haruka and himself a little.

"Fine," he permitted, like he had been destined to do since the start of this conversation.

"Thanks," Haruka replied, rewarding him with a sweet smile, "Take off your shirt."

While Haruka went to retrieve all his supplies, Makoto did as he had been told. The air inside their apartment was fairly warm, especially compared to the frigid winds that reigned beyond the walls, yet it felt cool to his bared torso and goosebumps erupted on his skin. Although it was far from ideal, the heat on his lower body compensated for it a little so he wouldn't complain. Even if he did, Haruka would probably just tell him to suck it up and sit still, for his complaints wouldn't make him work any faster. Once he set his mind to something, it was hard to convince him otherwise.

Haruka had always excelled in arts and crafts - the universe had perfectly balanced them out in that aspect - and lately he had been getting more and more into painting. Though he liked to dabble in all different kinds of mediums, his expertise was painting with watercolours - of course it was. His paintings were absolutely gorgeous and Makoto would have liked to showcase his work on every available wallspace in their home if Haruka would've let him. Makoto was certain that these paintings would sell well, for he couldn't fathom that there were people who wouldn't want to display such masterpieces in their house.

Perhaps that was partly his soulmate-bias talking, but anyone would agree that Haruka was very talented and that each work he produced was even greater than the previous one. It was something that he could look into doing for a living.

After an exceedingly successful swimming career, they had cautiously began to talk about Haruka retiring after the next season. It wasn't necessary by any means, as he was very much still at the top of the swimming world, but Haruka always said that he wanted to quit at his peak. That swimming professionally was never something he had envisioned himself doing for his entire life; he had travelled the world alongside his soulmate, had seen places he could only ever dream of, had won more medals than his neck could bear, and it was enough. He had reached a point in his life where he wanted to settle down with Makoto, to enjoy a day-to-day life of tranquility without the hecticness of times and the pressure of improving and competing. He truly deserved it.

There were no concrete plans yet, but they knew from the day they moved to Tokyo that they eventually wanted to return to Iwatobi. It was the place where they grew up together, and it was going to be the place where they'd grow old together. Upon parting, Coach Sasabe had told them that they were always welcome to come back to the Iwatobi Swim Club Returns, and recently he had even hinted at them taking it over from him at some point in the distant future. A time would come where they had to consider offers like that more seriously, but for now, they were free to think about and discuss the endless realm of possibilities.

While Makoto knew for sure that he wanted to stay involved with the world of swimming by being a coach for all ages, Haruka had no idea yet what he would like to do after he put his last trophy on the shelf. Makoto could imagine him doing pretty much anything, from being a professional artist to being a chef or a gardener and everything in-between. The world was his oyster, and he wasn't in a rush to decide. He could take his time to find that what would make him the happiest.

Regardless of what he ended up choosing, any field would be so incredibly lucky to have him; as was Makoto, every single day he got to spend with him.

They never knew where the ripples of life would take them next, so they would simply ride the current together and see where they ended up - which was hopefully, in the foreseeable future, at their wedding.

With arms full of materials, Haruka came back into the living room and plopped down behind him, dragging one of the pillows under his butt. He quickly laid out his stuff beside him, far more neatly than Makoto's mess on the table - another way in which they were perfectly balanced out, much to their dismay.

"Cold?" he asked as he ran his fingers over his canvas, where goosebumps stood up on Makoto's skin.

"A little," Makoto said, willing the goosebumps away. "The kotatsu is nice and warm though, so that helps."

"Told you so."

"You were right," he admitted, knowing that was what Haruka wanted to hear.

"I always am."

He laughed at his soulmate's semi-joking remark. "Often," he corrected, turning his head so he could see the teasing yet adorable smile that surely graced Haruka's face. When he did, he saw that Haruka was still wearing his hoodie. "Are you going to paint with that on?"

"Yeah?" Haruka mumbled with a shrug.

"What if you get paint on it?"

"I won't, I'll be careful."

Makoto sighed at that and tried, "Can't you at least wear a smock over it or something?"

"It's fine, I never stain any of my clothes," Haruka brushed off, "but if I do, I'll get you ten new hoodies."

"That's not the point…" Makoto mumbled with another sigh. Haruka had given him this particular hoodie for Christmas two years ago, and he was fond of it. Every year Haruka gifted him at least one article of clothing - it were mainly things that he saw and knew he would love to steal - and Makoto cherished them all. They were irreplaceable to him. "You know, I think it's only fair that if I have to take my shirt off, then you should, too."

"But you get to sit at the kotatsu and I can't, so that evens it out," Haruka argued with a grin.

"You can put your feet on my lap if you want."

"Though you are a great space heater, it's not quite the same," he said, amusement laced through his tone.

"Fair enough," Makoto gave in with a chuckle. Then he heard the crinkling of paper, presumably the sketch that Haruka had made earlier as an example, and asked, "So, what was so inspiring that you couldn't wait and simply _had_ to paint it right now?"

"That's a secret," Haruka declared, and despite their playful banter, he was serious this time. "Don't look until I say you can."

Even though Makoto's curiosity was only heightened at that unexpected secrecy, as Haruka usually had no issues with telling him beforehand, it was actually very convenient. "Alright," he agreed without protest, "but then you can't see my photo album until I'm done either!"

"Fine, as long as you sit still," Haruka shrugged. "Now turn your head. No peeking."

"I'll do my best," Makoto promised, and he faced forwards again.

Haruka stroked his palms over the entire expanse of Makoto's back, like there was a need to assess his canvas when he was already so familiar with it. Makoto knew he simply loved to feel the skin covering his toned muscles whenever the opportunity presented itself, and he certainly wasn't objecting to any impromptu massages by his soulmate's skillful hands. He wasn't _that_ much of an idiot.

Alas, he could not lie back to enjoy it, as he could soon feel Haruka's hands disappearing and being replaced by cold bristles against his shoulder blade, that instantly reawakened the goosebumps across his body. There was no time for him to sit and relax anyway, there was work to do, and Makoto definitely had it cut out for him. He opened a file on his laptop and studied the first page closely.

In preparation for this scrapbook, Makoto had made a rough digital version of it that showed what pictures were going to go on which pages, what he would write next to them and how he would decorate it. He had figured that if he didn't make a game plan, then he would surely get overwhelmed and screw it up one way or another, and he wanted this to be perfect.

Weeks he had spent carefully picking out the photos from the thousands they had, deeply pondering about how he could best word the memories they stirred up and summarise it briefly yet descriptively, and deciding how to decorate the pages so it would enhance the overall look, but wouldn't draw the attention away from the photos. Creativity had never been his strong suit, so it took a lot of effort to make each and every page stand out.

After his brain nearly short-circuited, he finally figured it out: simplicity was key. He should only add things that were necessary, whether it was in the form of a little drawing beside his words or a sticker-frame around a certain photo. Slowly it began to come together and Makoto was overjoyed. The hard part of this proposal was finally out of the way and he could focus on the easy, fun parts… or so he had thought.

The toughest challenge came from an unpredicted corner: picking out the ring.

Haruka had never been the materialistic type and rarely wore jewellery, yet an engagement ring was special and Makoto was sure that he would wear it whenever he could. Therefore, he had to choose the right one, one that fit Haruka and that he would actually like. Nothing too big or flashy, but nothing too plain or typical either: one that was as unique as Haruka. Sounded pretty simple, or so Makoto had thought.

Boy, had he been wrong.

He had scoured the internet for inspiration, and at first he thought he had a clear idea of what he wanted. When they were little, he had seen a ring in the shape of a dolphin once and he had decided he would ask Haruka to marry him with a ring just like that.

The internet didn't disappoint in that regard, as there were plenty of dolphin-shaped rings and ones with little dolphins woven through them, but none of them seemed quite right. He didn't feel the same spark he did upon seeing them as he had all those years back. He began to doubt himself, wondering if it might have been a little too obvious of a choice and he wasn't sure if Haruka would even like these kinds of designs.

Although he was often compared to a dolphin with his graceful swimming style, he was so much more than an Olympic champion and Makoto didn't want to reduce him to that. Where others only saw his flawless form and swift movements, Makoto had always seen the full picture, knew the sweet and funny and amazing person he was beyond the embrace of the water.

There shouldn't be any doubts about the perfect ring, and Makoto eventually concluded that this wasn't what he was looking for after all. Perhaps a dolphin-shaped ring would be a nice gift for Haruka, but it wasn't going to be his engagement ring. And thus the search continued.

Through countless of websites he clicked and scrolled, but there were no results to satisfy him. Knowing that he wasn't going to find it online, there was nothing left for him to do but to delete his internet history and go into the wild to find what he was seeking.

Makoto thanked the heavens for the time of year he had planned his proposal. The idea had been delivered to him in September, when the last rays of summer were slowly slipping away to make place for falling leaves and autumn winds. Putting together the rough digital version of his album took him a bit longer than predicted, and December had already rolled around the corner before he realised it, which actually worked out in his favour. Christmas was right around the corner, so he didn't need to come up with an excuse every time he went out to shop for a ring. He could simply disguise his true intentions behind the facade of buying presents.

For a brief while, he had considered for the book and the corresponding ring to be one of Haruka's gifts this year, but he had quickly discarded that thought. Christmas proposals were far too common so it probably wouldn't surprise Haruka, and Makoto truly wanted to knock his socks off. So instead, he had decided to go for New Year's Eve.

It wouldn't be easy to pull off, but he hoped that he could time it just so that Haruka would reach the final page right after the clock struck midnight. Then, they would close the year off with a summary of their lives so far, and the big question and the ring would be the first things Haruka saw on January first. If everything went according to plan, they would enter the new year as fiancés. If that wasn't a good omen for the remainder of the year, then nothing was.

But it wasn't going to work out if Makoto didn't have the ring before then, so he had to make haste. He had visited nearly every jeweller in Tokyo and had gone through their entire assortment of wedding and engagement rings, and with every reject, his desperation and stress levels grew.

At last, in a small, picturesque shop tucked away in the crooks of a narrow alley, overpowered by the presence of other stores, his eye finally fell on the one: the show-stopping, dazzling ring that instantly reminded him of his gorgeous soulmate. The second he saw it, he knew his quest had ultimately come to an end and that he hadn't been searching in vain, but it actually existed. The ring that was predestined to adorn Haruka's finger.

The silver band wasn't too wide nor too narrow and embedded between two rows of glistening brilliants were deep, vibrant sapphires. They were so beautiful, like the universe had captured little pieces of Haruka's irises to craft these tiny gemstones and create an engagement ring just for him.

He had seen hundreds of rings but none quite as stunning as this one, and a rush of excitement went through his body when he imagined slipping it onto Haruka's delicate finger. It was similar to how he felt when he first laid eyes upon Haruka at the playground, and though it was in a much lower caliber than it was back then, it seemed like a sign. Just like Haruka was the only one for him, this ring was the one and only engagement ring he had been looking for. There was no other way to interpret it.

So he immediately purchased it, and it had been hidden beneath his boxer-briefs at the back of his underwear drawer ever since; the safest spot in their entire apartment, as it was the sole drawer Haruka would never plunder. There it would remain until the scrapbook was ready for it to take its place on the very last page.

But, first things first: the first page.

Unlike with most pictures, Makoto didn't have a hard time figuring out which one would start the book off, for there was only one picture that deserved that spot. Only one picture that signified the beginning of their journey together.

For once, he had been organised and had arranged his folder just so that everything was in order, so he didn't have to waste precious time trying to find any specific pictures. He pulled it out, and a smile naturally curled his lips when he saw the school of blue fish with black outlines imprinted on his little arm. The sight was engraved in his retinas, but there was something particularly comforting about seeing it for real.

"We should get a tattoo sometime."

Makoto could almost hear the frown that twisted Haruka's eyebrows at that seemingly unprompted comment. "Of what?" Haruka asked sceptically, momentarily ceasing to stroke his brush over Makoto's back.

"Of this," Makoto said as he held up the photo over his shoulder so Haruka could see. Haruka's frown hardened.

"Uh, no thanks," he instantly refused, shuddering at the mere thought, "I was so glad when they were finally gone after a month, what on earth makes you think I want to have an arm full of blue fish permanently?"

"Not _all_ of them, just this one," Makoto clarified, pointing at the first fish that had manifested on his skin; the very first drawing Haruka had ever made for him, "and don't exaggerate, it was only a week."

"It felt like a month."

"Hey!" Makoto yelped in offense, but he couldn't help but chuckle along when he heard Haruka laugh lightly.

"So what's your plan for this? I get to suffer the pain while you only get a pretty tattoo?" Haruka questioned, knowing just how squeamish Makoto was regarding anything involving needles and any degree of pain.

"Kind of, yeah," Makoto admitted with another chuckle, "You'd do that for me, wouldn't you? It was on your wrist to begin with."

"I'll think about it," Haruka muttered dismissively, though Makoto could clearly hear the ' _no way that's ever happening_ ' in his voice.

He had suggested it on a whim, and when he truly thought about it, it wasn't that convenient anyway. Though he loved the little fish with all his heart, it had been drawn on the inside of their wrists, which was the place they used the most when it came to writing each other messages throughout the day. Having it permanently inked in their skin would mean it would be in the way of other drawings that Haruka would surely make in the future.

Besides, if it was made by a tattoo artist, it probably wouldn't have the same impact it did when Haruka had drawn it, even if it was an exact copy of his original drawing. All of those reasons combined, it wasn't that desirable after all. Makoto would just continue envisioning it whenever he needed to.

"What happened to your photo album being a secret, though?"

"It's still a secret," Makoto assured, "I'm not going to show you every photo yet, but you'd know this one would be in it anyway."

Haruka just hummed in understanding and resumed from where he had left off. In turn, Makoto lowered the picture and told himself to focus; he hadn't even started yet and at this rate he wouldn't get anything done, so he had to pull himself together.

He grabbed the glue stick and pasted the image onto the first page. Next to it in black ink, he wrote, ' **It all started with a little fish…** ' and drew a tiny fish in the same style.

The second picture wasn't of a fond memory that he shared with Haruka, but one that he deemed unmissable in their story nonetheless. It was placed below the words and it depicted a tiny Haruka in an adorable mini suit, arm full of blue smudges as he stood beside his aunts in their wedding dresses. ' **and I guess you could say I left a lasting impression on you from day one.** '

Makoto snickered at his own joke. When he realised that Haruka was sitting right behind him, he abruptly swallowed the remaining giggles before Haruka could notice.

Then came their first written conversation; though there were so many amazing drawings and interactions they had had in the meanwhile, there was a limited amount of pages in this book so only the most outstandingly dear memories earned a spot. All their firsts and the events that had influenced their relationship the most had priority.

' **After nearly two years of learning and trying, I finally felt confident enough to write to you.** '

When his mother had sent him the picture that continued this story, his jaw had dropped in astonishment, for he hadn't known it even existed.

"Haru, look," Makoto said, lifting the photo so it was in Haruka's field of vision. He hadn't meant to show this particular photo just yet, but knowing how happy seeing it made him, he simply couldn't resist.

A small gasp escaped Haruka's lips. "I've never seen this picture before."

It was a picture of them on that special day they met at the playground, arms tightly wrapped around each other in the very first hug they had ever shared. With their eyes squeezed shut in comfort, they were enveloped completely by their own bubble, emitting such tranquility and peace that it looked like they wouldn't part again. Which, in some regard, they hadn't and never would.

"I hadn't either, until my mom sent it to me," Makoto replied, "After she took the pictures of my arm, she was still holding the camera when we went out and I suppose we were too absorbed in our own world to notice her taking pictures."

"Did your mom send all the pictures?"

Haruka's question caught him a little off-guard. "A lot of them, but not all," he said, "some also came from your parents' albums and others from pictures we took ourselves."

"So they already knew you were making this?"

"Well yeah, they wanted to know why I needed all the pictures." Though Haruka couldn't see it, Makoto's eyes narrowed in caution. Did Haruka recently talk to both of their moms and was he onto something? Or did he feel overlooked because their moms had known about something Makoto had planned before he did? "Why?"

"Just wondering," Haruka mumbled with a shrug, "It's nice to have this picture though," he continued as he took it from Makoto's hands so he could study it more closely. "I always thought this was one of the few moments of our lives that went undocumented."

Makoto beamed. "I thought so too. Apparently my mom kept it in a different album after she got it printed and lost it in the mass. She didn't find it back until I asked her to look through everything."

"I'm glad she found it." Haruka smiled gently up at Makoto as he handed the photo back.

"Me too." And now, it would never get lost again. Not only did it secure its place inside this album, it was also saved on his laptop, his backup hard drive and his email, kept safe next to all of their other memories.

' **Little did I know that it would lead to our very first meeting, and our very first hug…** '

For the next picture, he grabbed the scissors and cut it just so that only the little drawing that was visible on his skin remained. He glued it down in the lower corner of the page, ' **and after a year and a half of drawing hearts, you finally drew one back.** '

Now Haruka drew hearts on the regular, but Makoto vividly remembered how special it was when that doodle appeared, how happy and loved it made him feel. It had meant the world to him, and even if he was used to it now, it still did.

Next up was a picture of their first day at elementary school; they had only met a week or so prior, but they were already inseparable and it seemed like they had been joined at the hip since birth. Side by side they stood before the school's gate, with Makoto sporting an enormous smile, while Haruka looked to be bored at best, yet Makoto could see a slight twinkle in his eyes that betrayed his genuine feelings.

' **On our first day of school, we went from being soulmates and neighbours and best friends, to being classmates too.** '

Although it wasn't uncommon for soulmates to be classmates, it was quite rare for soulmates to have already found each other before school had even begun. Fortunately, their elementary school hadn't been so strict that they were forbidden from being in the same class or sitting next to each other. But there was a firm no-cheating policy so their teachers always kept a close eye on them during important tests and exams.

One time right before a test in first grade, Makoto had written a little message on his arm for Haruka. The teacher had seen him do it and instantly accused him of cheating, calling him out in front of the entire class. Tears had spontaneously sprung to his eyes as he stammered that he wasn't cheating, and then he got a lecture about lying on top of it. He had been full on bawling by the time Haruka stepped in, pulled up his sleeve and showed the teacher the ' **good luck, Haru-chan!** ' Makoto had actually written, with a smiley face drawn beside it to complete the sentiment.

The teacher had apologised profusely and tried to calm him down, but the damage had already been done. Unable to appease the storm, the teacher took the both of them out of the room until the waterworks stopped. Makoto didn't remember much of it after that, but he was pretty sure Haruka had held a grudge against that teacher ever since.

Looking back on it, he thought it was rather amusing even though he didn't think it was funny at all at the time; he had definitely learned his lesson, for he hadn't dared to ever write Haruka anything right before a test again.

Although he could recall it fondly, it was a memory that paled in comparison to the thousands of sweeter ones they had, so alas it was not going to be included in this scrapbook. Perhaps it had a shot at being featured in a possible second edition, but for now it had to give up its spot in the limelight for another, more important moment: their first sleepover, for example, had obtained its page fair and square.

It had taken place at Haruka's house just a couple of weeks after they met. They had played together the entire day, but by the time Makoto's mother came to pick him up, their joy had morphed to sadness and their grins were transformed into crestfallen pouts. Because they clearly weren't ready to part ways yet, Haruka's mom had offered for him to stay the night. They were so excited, and all had been good and well until it was time to go to bed.

In this picture, they were still smiling brightly, sat on the futon that was laid out beside Haruka's bed, fresh out of the bath and cosy in their pyjamas. But once this picture was taken, Haruka's mother had left and turned off the lights while Haruka retreated to his own bed.

He remembered feeling so small, curled up in the large futon as fear began to gnaw at him; he had never spent the night without his parents before and he was used to sleeping with a nightlight on, but it was pitch black in Haruka's room. It didn't take much more than that for his imagination to start playing tricks on him. Haruka's house was a lot older than his own and the weathered floorboards creaked with even the slightest of pressure. All the noises combined with the shadows that danced around in the dark did a pretty good job at convincing Makoto that Haruka's house was haunted.

Frightened and alone, Makoto had buried himself beneath the duvet in the hopes that the blankets would serve as an impenetrable barrier that warded off all the evil spirits. The mere thought of ghosts roaming around Haruka's room made tears well up in his eyes and he had never felt as much of a coward as he did then. He was trembling and tried his best to swallow his sobs, because most of all, he was afraid of waking Haruka and being a bother to him. As Haruka's soulmate, Makoto felt like it was his duty to protect him, but he couldn't even protect himself; all he could do was shake and cry. What a lousy soulmate he was.

Right when he was about to be consumed by his insecurities and fears, he felt the duvet being lifted and warmth spread across his back as Haruka wrapped his arms around him from behind. He didn't say a word, just snuggled up to him and held him tight. Instantly, every monster and fiend dissolved.

Nothing could comfort him like his soulmate's touch and it always made him feel infinitely better, and this time was no exception. Maybe the dark wasn't so bad after all, and he knew his parents were safe and sound, just one flight of stairs away if he needed them. But he didn't, because Haruka was here.

Haruka guarded him from every danger and banished every bad feeling and thought. It made Makoto vow to one day be as good of a soulmate to Haruka as Haruka was to him, so he could protect him from all the hurt in the world. But for then, he allowed himself to be a bit of a coward, knowing that Haruka would be brave for them both. Shielded by Haruka's embrace, it didn't take much longer for Makoto to wander off to dreamland, where only the sweetest thoughts remained.

' **During our first sleepover, you chased away all my demons for the first, but certainly not the last time.** '

Another picture Makoto had never seen before was the one that accompanied the previous one. Apparently, Haruka's mother had went to check up on them before her husband and she went to bed, and she had found them cuddled up together in the futon. Her heart had melted on the spot and she eagerly told her husband to get the camera.

Seeing it brought a soft smile to Makoto's face. The image was so cute, and this might have been the exact moment when Haruka's fondness of spooning had sprouted. Although their size difference had been flipped in Makoto's favour, he didn't mind being the little spoon whenever Haruka wanted to cling to him. Being captured in Haruka's embrace made him feel as safe and cherished as it had back then, so he couldn't ever refuse. He honestly loved it just as much as his soulmate did.

' **Then we shared a bed for the first time, and we haven't stopped since. I always sleep best when I'm snuggled up with you, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.** '

Just thinking about it made Makoto long for their bed with Haruka tightly pressed against him, but he had to wait a few more hours until they would lie down in each other's arms again. The promise that they would cuddle in the tub once Haruka was done with his painting soothed the ache a little.

Then came their first time going to a festival together. With candy apples in one hand and large stuffed squids in the other, they both flashed the camera a jubilant smile. Haruka had been wearing the cutest blue yukata with goldfish-print, while Makoto wore a dotted green one.

He vividly remembered winning the squid plushies at a shooting game, and that was probably the first time they did something that Haruka wasn't as good at, so Makoto had been determined to win one for his soulmate too. Once the evening came to an end, they played with some fireworks that Haruka's dad brought. Even if Makoto had always liked fireworks, there was something extra special about watching the sparks with his soulmate.

' **At our first festival together, I tried my hardest to impress you by winning us matching stuffed animals. But when I saw the light of the fireworks twinkling in your beautiful eyes, I was the one left in awe.** '

That summer had been filled with so many firsts; beside the festival, there was also their first trip together. There wasn't much he recalled from that day at the amusement park besides having the time of his life and the souvenirs they brought home, but the slivers that he did remember were treasured all the same. In his room he had kept a picture of Haruka and he with two of the park entertainers, displayed in a frame bought at said park.

It didn't look good at all, but Makoto was still quite satisfied with his attempt at drawing the frame around the picture. He was sure Haruka would recognise it immediately.

Upon Makoto's request, they had joined the Iwatobi Swim Club. Little did they know back then that that one decision would impact their lives so much. The main things he remembered of their first day at the club were how nervous and shy he had been - as opposed to his soulmate, who simply wished all the formalities to be over so he could get in the pool already - and the straps they had gotten afterwards.

They had both reached for the dolphin, but it was the last one. Rather than playing rock-paper-scissors like Coach Sasabe had suggested, he simply picked the clownfish strap instead. The smile that Haruka showed him made him so much happier than the dolphin ever could, so Makoto knew he had made the right choice.

He'd still pick the clownfish strap any day. If Haruka was happy, then so was he.

Unfortunately, not every first they had experienced that summer had been a pleasant one. On a sunny afternoon at the pool, things turned from great to awful in a matter of seconds when Haruka slipped on a puddle of water and smashed the back of his head on the tile floor. It was the very first time Makoto saw Haruka cry and it felt like his heart was ripped to shreds. Though there was no visible damage, their swimming session was promptly cancelled so Haruka's mom could take him to the hospital, to make sure he didn't have a concussion or worse. Makoto had pleaded to come along, and it resulted in their first trip to the hospital together.

While everything had been just fine in the end, the distraught look on Haruka's adorable little face and the tears streaming down his reddened cheeks was burned into Makoto's mind and thinking back to it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Just thinking about it, he was overcome with the urge to turn around and pull Haruka against himself, murmuring sweet nothings in his ear to console him. Haruka would definitely get suspicious if he did something like that out of nowhere, so he had to repress every tendency that welled up inside him so naturally upon visualising his soulmate being in distress.

Memories on that side of the spectrum, though they arguably shaped their relationship just as much as the bright ones, wouldn't make an appearance in this scrapbook. He wanted to enter their marriage and future as husbands with nothing but good vibes and positive energy, and in order to do that, they needed to leave their sorrow in the past.

The road up until this point had been amazing though. There were loads of nice moments to outshine the somber times with; their first fishing trip together with their dads, that led to many more thereafter, building an igloo in Makoto's backyard during a winter as fierce as this one - the cold they had subsequently caught was only a small downside -, the birth of the twins that transformed them into big brothers, winning swimming events. The list went on and on.

Even if not every moment was represented in this album, Makoto looked back on their childhood with nothing but nostalgia.

Unlike the first day of elementary school, the first day of middle school wasn't a day that Makoto was particularly fond of. It felt like it was only yesterday when Haruka and he stood before the cork boards, with Haruka standing up on the tips of his toes to try to peer over the mass of children to see what class they were in. Makoto could pinpoint the second both of their hearts sunk in their chests; when they could finally see the lists, they saw that Haruka was in class 1 while he was in class 2.

They had been in the same class since the start so Makoto honestly hadn't even considered the possibility of them ending up in different classes in middle school. Luckily they still shared PE classes, but it was a mere bandaid on a gaping wound. Haruka had tried to brush it off by saying that it was no big deal, that they'd see each other every day outside of school, with the swim club and just by hanging out as well, but Makoto could tell he was just trying to convince himself that.

Though he couldn't confirm it, Makoto had an inkling that their middle school purposely separated all known soulmates to minimise the distraction in class. It actually had the opposite effect, as Makoto and Haruka had been sulking for the rest of the day - if not, the rest of the month. They eventually got adjusted to these new circumstances, but they never fully got used to them.

Middle school hadn't been the greatest time for them anyway. They met irreplaceable friends whom they revered to this day, but there had been a period of harsh weather for their relationship - namely, the first part of their first year. A freefall in their rollercoaster ride, as Makoto's dad liked to put it.

Through their interactions with others, they steadily began to re-examine their bond, who they were as soulmates but also as individuals. For the first time, it seemed like they didn't know each other as well as they always thought, they weren't spending as much time together as they used to and they honestly missed each other. With all of those factors combined, doubts gradually rose.

Needless to say, everything had turned out just fine. They had resolved any issue that presented itself and they had long since overcome this dip, but it still wasn't the warmest of times. It was a chapter that Makoto would rather skim over in their fairytale. He would never deny how crucial it had been in their development, as they had only grown stronger through these experiences, but Makoto still couldn't fathom how he ever could have questioned them. Their relationship was an indestructible fortress, an inviolable sanctuary, and their love for each other was unyielding, something that no amount of raging hormones or teenage angst could dismantle.

It was easy to reflect on a matter after the fact, so they would regard every hardship they had endured as an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and would handle similar situations differently in the future. With their relationship being where it was now, up in the clouds as they only ascended higher and higher - thanks Dad - Makoto was confident that history wouldn't repeat itself again.

It certainly hadn't been all bad, though. Most of their free time outside of swimming was spent together as per usual, with or without their friends. Whether it was falling asleep while they were huddled together beneath a quilt as they stargazed on his balcony, ate roasted sweet potatoes on a park bench while watching the ducklings, or going out to arcades or frozen lakes to skate hand-in-hand, the springtime of their lives was cherished as much as any other period.

In fact, Makoto recalled one specific fishing outing they had gone on around the end of spring of their first year that resurfaced whenever they were in Iwatobi because of how nice it was.

The fish weren't really biting and all they caught was each other, and after falling into the shallow water, they had discarded their poles in favour of splashing around and swimming in the river. The melody of Haruka's gleeful, unabashed laughter resonated through Makoto's head to this day and filled him with just as much joy as it did back then. It was a shame he couldn't put audio files into this scrapbook, but he hadn't recorded it anyway. He would just have to keep replaying the heartwarming sound in his head.

Contrary to middle school, a lot of memories Makoto had of high school were among their very best. During their first year, such a life-changing milestone had been reached that it drowned out pretty much everything else that happened that year: on a mellow summer evening, their lips met in their very first kiss.

Every kiss they had shared after that made his heart race all the same, yet their first kiss was still special. It was brief and sudden and it caught him somewhat off-guard, but it had been so wonderful and he could feel a phantom of the slight brush linger on his lips ever since.

He had selected two pictures to go along with the memory, one of them smiling gently on that very night, the other of the kiss Makoto had insisted on capturing shortly thereafter. Even though it might have been a little silly, Makoto was grateful to his past-self, because this picture was one in a million and he really wouldn't have wanted a night as special as that one to be excluded from this collection.

In the middle of the page, he wrote, ' **They say first kisses taste like lemons, but ours tasted like tangerines.'**

Before he glued the photos down, he called, "Haru."

Upon hearing Makoto's soft voice breaking the silence, Haruka raised his chin and tilted his head in question.

"Look," Makoto said as he held up the photo on which their lips were tenderly pressed against the other's, "Our eighth kiss."

Haruka rolled his eyes at that comment. Clearly he hadn't forgotten about their decade-old banter, as he leaned up on his knees to plant a kiss on Makoto's mouth. "So, what number was that?"

"3,675,482," Makoto stated matter-of-factly, without as much as a second of hesitation.

Haruka's jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes widened in disbelief, then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion before they were raised again in surprise.

Seeing Haruka's beautiful face flip through various stages of dumbfoundedness crushed Makoto's serious demeanour. He laughed at his soulmate's bewilderment as he revealed, "I'm kidding. I have no idea."

A huff of amusement and relief left Haruka's nose. While the exact number of kisses they had exchanged throughout their lives so far would forever remain a mystery, it was good that only the universe knew. How romantic would their physical intimacy be if Makoto was focused on keeping track of what number each and every kiss was?

"I lost count that same night," Makoto revealed; he hadn't confessed to it then because he didn't want to admit defeat so soon. "I think it's because every time we kiss, it feels like our first."

"That bad?" Haruka questioned with a sceptical twitch of his eyebrow.

"That _special_ ," Makoto emphasised. He wouldn't allow anyone to call their first kiss bad, not even Haruka. It had been chaste and fleeting and perhaps even dripping with inexperience, but it was so sweet, so perfect nonetheless. He wouldn't want to have it any other way.

Haruka smiled, already knowing that was what his soulmate meant. "Well, unlike our first, not every kiss we have right now tastes like tangerines."

Despite it being common knowledge between the two of them that there had been a hint of citrus on their tongues and breath that night, Makoto felt a little busted. There was no way Haruka could have seen the page that was currently open nor what he had written on it, but Makoto subtly moved his arms to cover it all the same.

"Speaking of which," Haruka continued, making Makoto sigh inwardly at the apparent change of topic, "the tangerines were on sale today so I got two bags. Do you want any?"

"Sure." In the time that had passed, he had gotten nearly halfway through the book already. At this rate he might be able to finish it tonight, depending on how much longer Haruka's painting took. After all his hard work, he deserved a little break.

He put the two pictures into the book and closed it so that Haruka wouldn't be able to sneak a glance onto its contents, and he raised his arms above his head to stretch out his overused muscles.

"Hey!" Haruka instantly called, shoving his shoulders back down, "No stretching! The paint isn't dry yet so you'll smudge it."

Makoto let out a breath of mild annoyance, for his back was starting to get pretty sore, but he complied. After having gotten this far and putting so much effort in it, it would be a shame to ruin Haruka's painting, especially because he hadn't seen it yet.

Figuring that his back would stretch a little if he got up, he tried to push himself off the floor so he could go get the tangerines, but again, Haruka held him down.

"Stay seated, I'll go get them."

If it weren't for the vines of warmth that grew straight from the kotatsu wrapping around his legs to trap him in place, he would have declined Haruka's offer in favour of walking about for a bit. But Haruka had already left before he could respond, and he was still too comfortable to get up, so stretching his legs and back would have to wait until later.

Makoto turned his laptop's screen to black and stacked his supplies to push them out of the way a little so they had more room to eat - and maybe so that Haruka couldn't study all the things he had gotten. He wanted the element of surprise to be as big as it possibly could.

"You want anything to drink?" Haruka called from the kitchen.

Somewhat startled, Makoto's eyes found the abandoned cup of tea near the edge of the table. "No, I still have tea," he yelled back, "but it's probably cold by now," he added as an afterthought, more so to himself than to his love.

Haruka returned with a basket full of tangerines with a couple of paper towels atop of it, and a glass of water in his other hand. Makoto smiled upon seeing it. When they were younger, there would always be a basket of tangerines standing on the kotatsu at Haruka's house and now, Haruka made sure there would be one on theirs too every winter. Whether it was to continue their tradition of tangerines for every special moment or simply because he was used to it by now, Makoto didn't know, but he appreciated it either way.

Setting the stuff down onto the table, Haruka slipped underneath the kotatsu to Makoto's right. Instantly his freezing feet found their place against the bare parts of Makoto's legs and Makoto yelped in shock.

"Haru! At least warn me before pressing your cold feet against me!"

"I didn't know your legs were here," Haruka retorted, "It's your fault for taking up so much space, with your long legs."

"I can't help that my legs are long!"

"And I can't help that my feet are cold," he shot back, but then he snorted, "I thought you said I could put my feet on your lap."

"Not without a warning!" Makoto claimed, "And if I recall it correctly, you declined my offer."

"I never said I didn't want to," Haruka pointed out, "I just said it wasn't quite the same as sitting at the kotatsu."

"Alright," Makoto gave in with a tiny shake of his head, not finding any use in arguing further when he knew Haruka always had his answer ready.

He took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes with his fingers. It wasn't until his blurry vision focused again that he realised how tired his eyes were from staring at the book and his laptop's screen for over an hour. Perhaps this break was good for his eyes too, so he could rest them a bit before he went back to work. Fortunately the sight that was the easiest on them was right beside him: his soulmate's beautiful face.

He leaned over the table to grab a paper towel and a tangerine, but Haruka pulled the basket out of his reach.

"I'll peel them for you," he muttered, avoiding Makoto's gaze as he tore his nails into a tangerine's skin. Already hearing the question that was surely burning on Makoto's tongue, he explained, "You always peel them so messily. You wouldn't want to dirty your photo album now would you?"

"No, but I'd be careful."

"Even then, you'd probably end up staining a page or getting a string caught between the spine. It's too great a risk."

These comments didn't quite help Makoto's suspicions. He wasn't sure if Haruka wanted to protect his book because he knew its intended purpose, or just because he knew it meant a lot to Makoto and didn't want his hard work to go to waste.

Before Makoto's mind could come up with an adequate reply, as it took all his strength to stop his questions from showing on his face, Haruka held up a wedge to his lips. Automatically, they parted and Makoto began to munch on it without much thought. His body had reacted so naturally that what had happened didn't dawn upon Makoto until the sweet taste was spreading through his mouth.

"Feeding me, even?"

Haruka popped a piece into his own mouth and chewed a bit. "If you touch it, there's still a chance you'll somehow end up ruining it."

"Wow, you have so much faith in me," Makoto sighed sarcastically, "I'd wash my hands before I continue. I'm not _that_ much of an idiot."

Haruka shrugged. "Still."

A sly grin stretched Makoto's cheeks. "Just admit you love feeding me."

The only reaction he got was a roll of Haruka's eyes and another tangerine piece being pushed into his face. He accepted it, but he wasn't done teasing Haruka yet. He figured that it was his turn now.

"Or, maybe you're just scared that if I get up to wash my hands, I'll sneak a glance at my back to see your painting and your secret will be out," he mumbled around his mouthful.

Despite his words being muffled by the fruit, Haruka had heard him loud and clearly. An adorable blush lit up his cheeks and all of his attention turned to the piece in his hand, fumbling at a little string. Those who claimed Haruka was hard to read evidently didn't speak his language; that look meant that Makoto had hit the nail straight on the head.

"Ah, bingo!" he chuckled, "I must say I'm even more tempted to go look in the mirror now. You've never been this secretive about anything before."

"Will you shut up already?" Haruka grunted, his face darkening a few shades. "I already told you I'd show you once I'm done so be patient."

"Yes, yes."

Makoto's amused laughter was cut off by Haruka practically shoving a tangerine part down his throat, which only made him laugh harder. While he had said nothing but the truth, Makoto would always respect his soulmate's wishes. The urge to peek was there, but he wouldn't act on it until Haruka gave him explicit permission.

Although it was funny how seriously Haruka took this, Makoto honestly didn't mind being fed by him - quite the contrary. To return the favour, Makoto snaked his hands underneath the kotatsu to wrap them around Haruka's socked feet. He knew like no other how his soulmate's feet were practically unable to warm themselves up once they had reached a certain level of frigidness, and as his personal space heater, Makoto knew it was his job to banish the cold from his bones. That being said, he did prefer a warning ahead of time before he had to fulfill his duty.

In response, Haruka looked up at him and smiled in a show of gratitude, moving his feet further up Makoto's legs so he could access them more easily. Enveloped by the heat of the kotatsu and cushioned between Makoto's hands and lap, Haruka's feet would be warm in no time.

Another tangerine wedge was offered and Makoto savoured the sweetness on his tongue. He hummed, "Tangerines really are the best this time of year."

"They're in season," Haruka concurred, "that's probably why they were so cheap."

It wasn't just their flavour that made them the tastiest in the winter, Makoto thought. There was just something especially comforting about eating them at the kotatsu with the perfect company, with nothing but warmth and cosiness floating in the air while the wind howled outside, when the rain was tapping against the windows or a blanket of snow covered every inch of the land. It felt nostalgic and homely, and not just because of the prominent role the fruit had played in their lives so far. He couldn't quite describe the feeling, but it certainly enhanced the experience.

And with the storm raging outside, there was nowhere Makoto would rather be than right here, sharing tangerines with his soulmate inside their very own apartment. Everything about this whispered home, and Makoto would forever relish in these extraordinarily mundane moments.

"I'm glad I already went out this morning to stock up on groceries," Haruka said, his ears undoubtedly catching the drowned out cries of nature.

"Me too, I don't think we would be able to go out in this weather," Makoto agreed, shivering at the mere thought of it, "but you should have woken me up. I would've come along."

"But you hate getting up early. And the cold."

"You hate the cold too."

"I can handle it better than you. Besides, I don't like waking you up."

Makoto smiled in appreciation at his words and the sentiment they implied. The feeling was mutual, for even if Haruka generally woke up before he did, at night he was also the first one to doze off and Makoto could honestly stare at his sleeping face for hours. He'd look so happy and tranquil, it would be a crime to disturb his nice dreams.

When Haruka saw the stupid, smitten expression that his soulmate wore, he scoffed, "It's faster to go by myself than to wait for you."

The attempts at brushing off his true intentions couldn't erase the fondness that adorned Makoto's face. "You're really spoiling me today, Haru-chan, even more so than usual," Makoto said, and Haruka instantly muttered his habitual 'stop with the -chan' in response.

Not only had he let Makoto sleep in while he went out into the cold by himself, he had also made green curry for dinner and he had even bought a small chocolate cake for dessert - apparently it had been on sale after Christmas, but Makoto was sure that he still would have brought it if it weren't. Though Haruka's homemade cakes triumphed all, he had already put so much effort into making the curry that Makoto really couldn't ask for more. And now, as the cherry on top, he was feeding him his favourite fruit.

"What did I do to deserve you?"

"Being born," Haruka replied with a snort, for neither of them truly had a say in the matter. But Makoto was sure that even without the universe's guidance, out of the seven billion people on this planet, he'd still pick Haruka every time - and hopefully, Haruka would pick him too.

"Still, thank you, Haru. I appreciate it."

"Idiot," Haruka mumbled, which had almost become as common as his urging for Makoto to drop the honorific. "You spoil me too." He wiggled his toes in Makoto's grip to emphasise his point.

The gentle smile that graced Haruka's lips made giddiness well up in Makoto's stomach. Their future as fiancés and husbands was right around the corner and Makoto couldn't wait until he could finally propose to him. Overwhelmed with an abundance of love buzzing through his body, he had to muster up all his self-control not to rush to their room to retrieve his ring and propose right on the spot. The last thing he wanted to do was to abandon his carefully crafted plans, so he had to be patient, though it did make him itch to continue as soon as possible.

Before he'd blurt out something he would definitely regret, Makoto quickly changed the topic. "Do you think the storm will let up anytime soon?" he asked, because what else was there to talk about when trying to distract yourself than the weather?

"I don't know," Haruka muttered with a shrug, "I hope it does, otherwise we might have to cancel our trip."

"Yeah…"

Normally they would head back to Iwatobi for their winter break; sometimes they'd only go for the new year's, other times they arrived before Christmas. This year, however, Haruka had expressed his preference of staying home and spending the holidays with just the two of them rather than with their friends and family. It had been extremely convenient for Makoto, because he also wanted to be together in their home when he proposed to Haruka. Now he didn't have to worry about coming up with an excuse. He didn't want to try his luck by asking Haruka for a reason beyond the one he had given, so he had just agreed and thus they were going to visit Iwatobi after New Year's.

Their trip was already planned, and Makoto thought it would be the perfect opportunity to tell their friends and family about their engagement in person. The only thing that could potentially ruin everything was the harsh weather - and perhaps Haruka rejecting his proposal, but that wasn't even a real possibility.

"Ran and Ren will surely be disappointed if they don't get to see you," Haruka mentioned with an endeared smile.

"I don't know what they'd be more disappointed about, not getting to see us or not getting our Christmas presents," Makoto joked, through there was certainly a hint of truth in his words.

"Probably both," Haruka agreed and they both chuckled lightly. "They haven't changed at all."

"Right? I can't believe they're all grown up already." Makoto could so clearly remember the moment his mother sat Haruka and him down and told them that they were going to be big brothers, and now, the twins were legal adults who were enrolled in college and pursuing their dreams. Over the course of the years, they had steadily gotten taller and taller until they peaked out above Haruka, but they hadn't caught up to Makoto just yet. Regardless of how big and old they got, in their hearts Ran and Ren would always remain their little siblings. A wistful sigh left Makoto's lips, "Time really flies by, huh?"

"It does, but nothing really changes."

That was true. Although they didn't get to see each other as often as Makoto would have liked, they still video-chatted regularly. Even if their faces had matured, the brown and teal sets of eyes that would stare back at them were the exact same as they had been when they were kids; gleaming with excitement and wonder, but most of all with adoration for their brothers. No matter how far apart they were, their love for each other would forever remain strong.

"If the storm doesn't lay down, let's just postpone our trip," Makoto offered. Thinking about his family made him long to see them, to hold them tight and talk to them in person. They still had some vacation days to spare, so if the weather wouldn't allow them to travel, then they simply had to wait until it did. "We should invite your parents too."

"I already did, but they declined. They anticipated that a snowstorm would come and prevent them from being able to leave."

"Winters in Hokkaido are tough, huh?" Makoto hummed, thinking back to the one winter they had visited Haruka's parents. The snow-covered mountains were absolutely gorgeous, but after a couple of hours of enjoying the idyllic landscape, the fierce bite of the icy winds chased them back inside to gather around the kotatsu like they were now. "If it's already this bad here, I wonder how it is up there."

"They're probably snowed in by now," Haruka said, grabbing another tangerine from the basket, "My mom called this morning to let me know the forecasts said they might not have reception tonight, so we shouldn't worry if we can't reach them."

"I wonder if it's actually that bad…" Makoto mumbled. It had been snowing heavily and it was freezing the last time they went, but they were far from snowed in.

"I'm pretty sure it is. I think the storm's about ten times worse there than here, and at this rate we might get snowed in for the night too."

Makoto grinned cheekily at the prospect of that, "I wouldn't mind getting snowed in."

Haruka sceptically cocked his eyebrow. "You wouldn't?"

"Nope, I've got everything I need right here," Makoto sang, "A warm shelter, plenty of food to last for days, you." He leaned closer to Haruka to complete his teasing and he smiled suggestively. "It's kind of romantic, isn't it?"

"Woah, hold up," Haruka said with a huff of amusement, pressing his palm up against Makoto's chest, "I don't know what you're planning, but whatever it is, save it for later. I'm not about to let you ruin my painting."

"Well, hurry up and finish it then," Makoto murmured, stealing a quick kiss from his soulmate's lips before he pulled back. His main reason for wanting Haruka to continue was so that he could resume his own project, but he would be lying if he said that the promised bath wasn't an impacting factor too.

"Hurry up and eat then," Haruka retorted as he pushed at his lips with a tangerine wedge.

Makoto didn't need to be told twice.

Once their hunger was satiated, Haruka collected their trash to dispose of in the kitchen.

"Do you want a refill of that?" he asked, nodding to Makoto's empty teacup.

"Yeah, thanks," Makoto replied as he handed him his cup, watching how Haruka tried to carry everything at once. "Do you need help?"

"No, it's fine. I wouldn't want you to leave the kotatsu and risk getting cold feet too."

Makoto wasn't quite sure if his casual joke held more depth or if he was just looking into it too much, but the mere thought of what he could have implied was enough to freak Makoto out. He was positive that Haruka had only meant it in the literal sense, but before he could correct himself, the shocked expression had already made its way onto his face.

He tried to play it off by exaggerating it and saying, "Wow, you really _are_ spoiling me today. At this rate I might start thinking you are in love with me."

Fortunately, his tactic seemed to work because Haruka snorted and feigned a look of offense. "Now don't get ahead of yourself. We've only known each other for what, twenty years? Don't be ridiculous."

"Well, I think I might have developed a little crush on you."

"Oh, really? What's next, you want to hold hands?"

Doing his best to stop a genuine smile from breaking through, Makoto added, "While taking a long, romantic walk on the beach." Or rather, a long, romantic walk down the aisle.

"Pervert," Haruka scoffed with a disapproving shake of his head, "You can go on that walk by yourself, because there's no way I'm going outside in this weather."

"Maybe some other time, then?"

"Maybe not. Try again in another twenty years." With that, Haruka retreated to the kitchen.

The smile he had been holding back emerged at last, not just at his successful diversion and their nonsense, but also at the thought of leisurely strolling along the coast hand-in-hand as the waves lapped at their toes, twenty years from now. Hopefully, they'd long be married by then, as he couldn't imagine either of them getting cold feet for real.

When Haruka returned and put their drinks on the table, he sat down behind him and Makoto was reminded that there was still plenty of work to do for the both of them. Play time was over, at least for now.

"Before you continue, can I stretch my back?" Makoto asked, "The paint must be dry by now, right?"

"Yeah, just be careful."

With his soulmate's permission, Makoto raised his arms over his head to stretch his muscles and he rolled his shoulders to will the stiffness away. Then, he twisted his spine to crack his joints, that made a satisfying pop with the motion.

"That is absolutely disgusting," Haruka said, distaste vibrant in his voice.

"Yet it feels so good," Makoto replied with a chuckle, and to further prove his point, he cracked his wrists and knuckles too.

"You're going to break something one day," Haruka predicted with an exasperated sigh, ruffling with his sketchbook behind Makoto and squeezing some more of the body paint onto his palette.

"Will you draw something on my cast then?"

"No, but I'll write 'I'm an idiot who accidentally broke his own bones' on it."

"Eh, I'll take what I can get," Makoto snickered as he slipped his glasses back onto his nose and he opened his book once more.

The first stroke of paint was as cold as ever, but it told Makoto that he couldn't slack off either.

Feeling lively after messing around for a little, he got a sudden boost of creativity and decided to stray from his original plan a bit. He grabbed the scissors and cut the pictures that represented their first kiss into hearts. The result was pretty lopsided, but their faces were square in the centre and the shapes of the pictures did resemble those of hearts, so Makoto deemed it a job well done.

To complete the theme, he scattered a few cartoon tangerine and star stickers around the paper and beneath the picture of their kiss he wrote, very finely, 'and our eighth did too.'

Satisfied with his work, he concluded what was undoubtedly one of their most precious memories to move onto the next one and he flipped the page.

Their first kiss was the catalyst of many more firsts; although the line of friendship and something more had always been a very blurred one thanks to their closeness and the soulmate-aspect of their relationship, kissing had truly made them cross the barrier and enter the territory of romance and intimacy for good. Since then, the lengths of their bond had radiated off of them, even to those who weren't acquainted with them.

Soon after that night, they had gone on their first official date. They did everything together so in a way, going to the cinema was nothing new, but it still felt special to Makoto; so special that he remembered it to this day.

Haruka had invited him, so Makoto assumed that there was a movie he wanted to see, but that turned out not to be the case. The choice was up to Makoto, which made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. Thinking that it would be fitting to go to a romantic movie together, he had picked one called 'The Life of a Rat', that was quite popular at the time.

The story featured a woman whose soulmate turned out to be a rat-man hybrid, and the struggles the man went through to hide his true identity from the love of his life. That was practically all he could recall about it. The entire time, he could only focus on their entwined fingers on the armrest between them and Haruka's head against his shoulder, his mind consumed with thoughts of love and how happy he was to spend time together with Haruka.

Before the movie began Makoto had, of course, taken a picture of them in the theatre. It depicted small yet joyous smiles on their faces as they were sharing a large popcorn. They looked so young back then that it was hard to imagine only a decade had passed since. Yet at the same time, Haruka looked the exact same, just as beautiful as he always had; just as beautiful as he always would. Every time he saw him, be it in person or in pictures, Makoto fell in love all over again.

Thankfully, Makoto's fifteen-year-old self hadn't just been sentimental enough to take pictures on their first real date, but he had also kept the tickets, which now earned a spot pasted below the photo. Despite the memorable presence of 'The Life of a Rat' in their lives, they never went to see the sequel that came out two years later, because neither of them had paid enough attention during the first to be able to understand the second.

High school had been quite eventful, from rekindling with old friends and meeting new ones to starting the swim club and renovating the pool by themselves. So many amazing memories had been made with the swim club, but there wasn't nearly enough room to display every last one of them in this collection, so Makoto had to make some tough decisions. Their friends had made high school unforgettable, but the album was supposed to revolve around Haruka and their relationship. Alas, many treasured memories did not make the cut.

Despite his desire to highlight the nicest moments solely and gloss over the negative parts of their lives, there was one exception. One memory was as important as it was harrowing.

Though their training camp had been incredibly fun, the dark cloud that loomed over it had left a permanent scar on their souls. But it had lead to a serious conversation, and Makoto never wanted Haruka to forget the words he had spoken to him that night.

Because it had gone undocumented, he had picked a random assembly of photos taken during their training camp. Every picture was beautiful and made a smile soften his features, but contrary to all the other ones in this book, the contents didn't matter as much. In this case, words said more than a thousand pictures could.

' **It really is meaningless without you, Haru.** '

Later that year, they had celebrated his seventeenth birthday. Not only had Haruka thrown him a surprise party with the help of their friends and made him an incredible chocolate cake from scratch, his parents had gifted him a coupon for a three-day trip to an onsen. Between everything that happened during their hectic school days and club adventures, the prospect of going on a romantic get-away with his soulmate was a great relief and he really appreciated his parents' support.

They had used the coupon that winter break, and it was the first overnight trip Haruka and he had gone on, just the two of them. Many followed thereafter, and going to an onsen together grew to be their way to unwind after a period of particular stress and hard work.

Perhaps, on their way back from Iwatobi, they could rearrange their plans so that they could stop by a local onsen for a night. Their first time in the hot water springs as fiancés; Makoto really liked the thought of that. He made a mental note to ask Haruka about it later.

Time flew by without Makoto's awareness as he poured all his attention and love into the little details, to frame every picture as nicely as he could. Discovering his dream while working at the Iwatobi Swim Club Returns, going to nationals with their team, Haruka telling him that he would come to Tokyo with him, house-hunting and moving into their first apartment together, it all made an appearance. With each turn of page, the end drew a bit nearer and Makoto got more and more excited.

The next photo was one that hadn't been taken by themselves or their loved ones, but by a journalist of a local newspaper; after winning his first big race, he had helped Haruka out of the pool and Haruka had instantly embraced him. Completely lost in the moment, he had lifted him off the ground and Haruka had promptly pressed their lips together for the world to see.

They weren't really the type of people who flaunted their relationship in public, especially not during work hours, but at that moment, their elation and affection simply couldn't be contained a second longer. He knew better than anyone how hard Haruka had practiced, so to see his training reap its fruits flooded him with pride and admiration. Then again, if Haruka had lost that race or any race for that matter, those feelings would never waver.

' **No matter if you win or lose, I'm always endlessly proud of you. You are my champion.** '

"Makoto. Makoto."

The lovely sound of Haruka's voice pulled Makoto from his thoughts. "Sorry, what?"

"Where's your phone?"

"Oh, uh… on my nightstand, I think?" he mumbled, unconsciously scratching at his cheek. "Why, are you done already?"

"Not yet," Haruka said as he got up and stretched his wrists, "but I want to take a progress picture."

Haruka slipped out of the room and Makoto realised that he had forgotten his drink for the second time now, the once scorching liquid having adjusted to the room temperature. He gulped it down regardless.

From their bedroom he could faintly hear Haruka rummaging through some stuff and instantly Makoto's alarm bells went off. What if he found his ring before the book was finished?

Fortunately, his common sense hadn't strayed too far off yet, as he remembered that Haruka was looking for his phone and his underwear drawer had to be the last place anyone would ever search through.

"It was in the front pocket of your pants," Haruka said when he returned, seized smartphone in hand. "This thing weighs a ton, how did you not feel it when you took it off?"

"I don't know, I guess I just wasn't paying attention earlier."

It wasn't a lie; the whole evening, his mind had been engulfed with nothing but his secret project and he had rushed his shower so he could start soon. Of course, when he had grabbed his laptop, he got distracted by a bunch of compilation videos of cats doing cute things. Half an hour had passed before he even laid out all his necessities, and his headstart was instantly erased. From then on, he had decided that he wouldn't get distracted and procrastinate again, and he was quite satisfied with how far he'd gotten already. Only a little more, so he would definitely finish it in time.

"Honestly," Haruka sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Sorry," Makoto muttered sheepishly, his hand finding its trusty place on his neck, but Haruka swatted it away before he could rub at his nape.

"It's fine, just sit still and keep your hands to yourself."

Makoto chose not to argue his last point and did his best to sit as still as possible while Haruka snapped some photos. Then, to tease him a little more, he held out his palm in a silent request for his phone back.

Without thinking, Haruka automatically gave it to him and a split second later, he realised his mistake.

"Makoto!" he cried, making his soulmate giggle lightly.

"I'm just kidding. Here." Makoto put the phone down beside Haruka, sliding it outside of his own reach. "I promised I wouldn't look until you said I could, right?"

Another huff left Haruka's nose as colour rose to his cheeks, and he swiftly faced away from Makoto. "I'm almost done," he mumbled, trying to change the subject, "Think you can sit still for a little longer?"

"Maybe for two more minutes."

Haruka's head whipped back up to send his soulmate a menacing glare, but it just made him look even cuter. Like a cat in one of those videos that was being denied a piece of his beloved mackerel. Makoto swallowed that comment the second it came to mind, because he knew Haruka would only get more annoyed with him if he said it out loud. He couldn't suppress a light chuckle, though.

"Kidding. Take as much time as you need," he assured, then he turned back to focus on his own project. With Haruka's notice, he should hurry and try to finish as much as he could today. No more dawdling, because the next memory was one of his very favourites.

That romantic night in their old apartment, that was illuminated by the warm, orange glow of the candles, where they had revealed the thoughts most hidden from their other half, where they had written their words of devotion on each other's skin, where they had made love for the very first time.

They had made love countless of times since, but to Makoto, it always felt like it was their first time again. Not in terms of how it felt physically - Makoto liked to think that practice had improved their skills as they discovered just what felt nice - but the feelings it gave him; the unequaled feelings of rightness as their bodies connected, the overflowing love bursting from his every fiber as Haruka hoovered over him or lied beneath him, like he was ascending to the heavens with Haruka's every touch. Like he had predicted, he had never gotten used to that feeling of absolute perfection, and he never wanted to either.

The only part that was different was that he didn't cry during or after sex anymore. Not most of the time anyway.

This memory required a double-page spread, for he simply couldn't exclude any of the pictures he had taken; not the one that showed their gentle smiles up at the camera as onliving bliss waltzed through their eyes, not the one where Haruka's lips were planted upon his flaring cheek, and certainly not the one of their declarations of affections adorning their chests - as per Haruka's wish, he had chosen a picture taken of his own chest, just like all the other ones in this album.

' **I love you more than I could ever put into words, but that never stops me from trying. Every night I'm lucky enough to be with you is just as special as our first, and I'm already looking forward to all the nights yet to come.** '

Makoto's gaze lingered on the picture for a little, unable to tear his eyes away from Haruka's stunning face, from his gorgeous smile, his blossoming cheeks and his dilated pupils. Seeing him never failed to make Makoto's heart skip a beat, regardless of what state he was in, and it would be a shame to look away. It was crazy how attractive one single person could be, and Makoto was sure he would also never get used to Haruka's endless beauty.

With regret in his heart, Makoto moved on to the next page. Knowing what picture was next did soothe the ache a little.

They were seated on a beach in South-Korea, a few days before Haruka's first participation in the World Aquatics Championships. The sun had been slowly sinking below the horizon as they watched the glistening waves crash on the shore, their heads leaned against the other's. Makoto didn't remember exactly what they had been talking about, but from what he recalled, he had expressed his faith in his soulmate and Haruka had thanked him for all his support. It had felt so peaceful; a moment of tranquility between all the noise for just the two of them, or so they had thought.

At one point their lips had met in a tender kiss, as was depicted on one of the two pictures a teammate of Haruka's had taken without their awareness. Just their silhouettes were visible, enveloping the sunset between their bodies in what almost looked like a heart-shape.

' **Wherever we are and wherever we might go, I'll be there to love and support you forevermore.** '

Haruka had won his first world title that competition, and since then it had become routine to take some time to sit near the water before every big race he had, be it the oceanside or a nearby riverbank. After the championships were over, they went back to that beach and searched for seashells to commemorate his historic victory with. They were a more subtle keepsake than his trophy and lasted longer than a bouquet of flowers.

And oh, was Makoto glad about that. He still had the shells and now, they would find their rightful place in this album. They weren't just nice as decoration, they actually served a purpose too: glueing them down onto this page would make it thicker, which would make the thickness of the last page provided by his ring not stand out as much. He smirked at his own ingenuity.

The process of pasting each individual seashell onto the page was a lot more tedious than he had expected though, and after about a dozen shells, he was already tired of it. There was no giving up now; he had to persevere and finish what he had started, but he had been working for hours now and his patience had slowly but surely run out.

"Alright, I'm done."

Haruka's melodic voice was the signal that freed Makoto from his misery.

He had done enough for today, had gotten further than he initially anticipated, and he thought he earned some time to relax; which was good, because he wouldn't want to mess things up by hastily throwing everything together. He would continue tomorrow when his energy was restored and his focus back in check. Now, he would aim all his attention at his love.

"Can I see it?" Makoto asked, looking over his shoulder as Haruka twisted the cap back onto the jar of ink and stacked his supplies.

"Yes, let me clean this up first."

While Haruka left to wash his brushes and put his stuff away, Makoto removed his glasses, closed the book and put his pens and glue stick back into his pencil case, shoving it all aside to be dealt with later. Then, he shut down his laptop; with all the things he had in mind for the remainder of the night, they wouldn't need it anymore.

After a minute or two, Haruka returned and picked Makoto's phone off the floor. "Stand up so I can take a better picture."

His curiosity won from his desire to stay seated at the kotatsu, aided by the numbness that was steadily spreading through his lower body from being in the same position too long. He pushed himself off the floor and finally stretched his sore legs and pelvis.

The air was cold to his heated limbs but all the tension was released from his muscles, which made it worthwhile. His upper body was longing to be stretched again too, but he did his best to suppress those urges until Haruka was done taking photos of the finished product.

"Okay," he mumbled, and at his green light, Makoto moved his back and his spine cracked once more. Upon hearing it, Haruka's nose scrunched up in disgust. "Gross."

"Sorry," Makoto chuckled, but as with calling Haruka '-chan', they both knew he wasn't going to stop doing this either. "Now, let's see…"

Haruka tapped on his phone's screen to select the correct image, but before he handed it to Makoto, he said, "This is the progress-picture, swipe left to see the finished piece."

Makoto nodded in understanding and when he saw the painting Haruka had made, his eyes widened in surprise and he gasped in awe. "Haru, this is so beautiful."

It was a landscape; the sun sinking slowly into the sea, just like the picture Makoto had just added to his album. The orange and pink hues intermingled so magically in the evening sky and the dark waves were glittering with light as they caressed the sandy beach. It was absolutely gorgeous, and it almost seemed like the scene was alive and he could dive right into the picture.

If this was merely the work-in-progress shot, then Makoto didn't even dare to dream of what the actual result was like. He never wanted to tear his eyes away from this masterpiece, but his curiosity was strong tonight and he couldn't resist swiping. His jaw dropped.

In the centre of his back were the silhouettes of two figures jumping out from the sparkling water: a dolphin and an orca, he instantly recognised. Their snouts were touching like they were sharing a gentle kiss and their tails met at the bottom to complete the heart that framed the oceanic sunset. His chest ached with affection when he saw it, but that was not all there was to it.

Written around the animals that represented the artist and his partner was,

' _ **Dearest Makoto,**_  
 _ **You are my everything,**_  
 _ **My best friend, my lover, my better half,**_  
 _ **My hope, my strength, my ray of sunshine,**_  
 _ **My world, my idiot, my soulmate.**_

 _ **I love you more than anything in the entire universe,**_  
 _ **And I want to spend every single day of my life by your side.**_  
 _ **To show that you are mine and I am yours,**_  
 _ **For always and forever.**_  
 _ **Will you be my husband too?**_ '

Completely in shock, Makoto turned his head to look at Haruka. Instead of standing next to him, he was crouched down on one knee with a black velvet box in his hands. Inside of it glimmered a silver ring with a row of small, precious emeralds embedded in the metal.

With his mouth still hanging open in bewilderment, Makoto's gaze met Haruka's. Their eye-contact was maintained as Haruka's lips parted and he asked, softly and gracefully,

"Makoto, will you marry me?"

Makoto blinked a few times as he tried to process Haruka's question.

Haruka proposed to him. Haruka had gone out and bought a ring and made a painting on his back and asked him to marry him. This was Haruka's proposal.

And he was flooded with disappointment.

"Damn it!" he yelled, letting his phone fall to the floor as he spun on his heel and ran out of the room, leaving behind a very baffled Haruka.

From all the reactions he had been expecting - tears, tackling him into a hug, kissing him deeply, crying out a million yesses - cursing and stomping off was _not_ on the list. Haruka was so puzzled by this response that he couldn't do anything but sit there and stare.

Suddenly Makoto was in front of him again, having come back as quickly as he had gone. He slammed down his own ring box on top of his unfinished book. Then, he began to ramble.

"I have been planning this for _months_! Thinking of ways to propose to you, gathering pictures from all over the place and making a selection, thinking of what to write next to them and how to make it all look nice, putting together this stupid book and picking a date, searching through the entire city to get you the perfect ring and now… now you beat me to it! I was _this_ close to proposing to you, and now you-"

His tirade was cut off by loud, bellowing laughter. Haruka was clutching at his stomach as his body shook violently, and Makoto couldn't remember the last time he had laughed this hard at something. It took him by surprise and it was his turn to stare at his soulmate in astonishment.

Haruka lifted a finger to catch any stray tears that were leaking out from his blue, blue eyes while his laughter died out, and Makoto was completely entranced by him.

"So," Haruka started with remnants of giggles, "is that a yes or a no?"

Within a split second Makoto was brought back to the matter at hand.

Haruka had proposed to him; he had made a painting on his back along with a confession of his undying love for him and he had gone down on one knee to offer him an engagement ring and eternal loyalty. Haruka had asked him to marry him.

And it was the best thing in the whole universe.

"Yes, yes, of course it's a yes!" Makoto exclaimed as he threw his arms around Haruka's neck and knocked him down to the floor. Tears were rapidly welling up and rolling over his red cheeks when he realised how much of an idiot he had been for reacting the way he did, when there was nothing he wanted more than to be Haruka's husband. "How could I ever say no?" he cried, not wasting any more time before he crashed their lips together rather harshly, yet with tremendous passion.

This was more what Haruka had been expecting and he smiled against his fiancé's lips. He wrapped his arms around Makoto's back to squeeze him tightly as he kissed back.

Makoto pulled back to look at Haruka's stunning face and he couldn't help but lean right back in to plant a series of rapid kisses against his mouth, making his husband-to-be snort.

"I love you so much, Haru," Makoto sobbed, sitting up when he realised he was probably crushing Haruka with his weight. Haruka followed after him and raised his hands to wipe the droplets from his blazing cheeks. "Sorry for my initial reaction. I'm sure that wasn't what you were expecting but… I always thought I would be the one to propose to you."

"So did I," Haruka murmured, smiling sweetly, "That's why I wanted to propose to you instead. To take the initiative, to show you how much I love you… Sorry for ruining your plans."

"Don't be," Makoto assured, shaking his head dismissively, "I absolutely love your proposal and I couldn't be happier. But even if you hadn't proposed to me first, I would never doubt your love for me."

"I know, but still. I wanted to surprise you."

"You most certainly did. Thank you, Haru."

Makoto stole a brief kiss as a token of his appreciation, and when their lips parted, Haruka's smile had transformed into a grin.

"Will you accept your ring now?"

"Of course!"

Makoto lifted his hand, spreading his fingers while Haruka plucked the ring from the box. With an infinitely loving smile that reached all the way up to his eyes, Haruka gently took Makoto's hand and slipped the ring around his finger. It was a perfect fit.

Holding onto Haruka's hand, Makoto pulled him in for another kiss. The desire to kiss his amazing fiancé breathless burned brightly inside of him, but he kept it chaste for now in favour of studying his ring.

"It's beautiful, Haru," Makoto muttered, moving his hand to watch the light dance through the gems. The band was wide, which was necessary to suit his big hands and the gems were small and subtle yet absolutely gorgeous. It wasn't over the top, but it wasn't common either; in all his ventures through countless of stores, he hadn't seen anything like this, so simple yet so unique. He would have loved any ring if Haruka would be the one to give it to him, but that didn't take away from how perfect this one was.

"I always thought that picking out the ring would be the easy part," Haruka mentioned and Makoto unconsciously nodded in agreement. "It took some time until I finally found it, but when I saw this one, it instantly reminded me of you."

It was funny how even their experiences with choosing the other's ring were similar. Feeling a bit silly, he couldn't help but tease his fiancé a little. "Did it smell like tangerines?"

"Haha," Haruka said dryly.

Makoto smiled again. There was no need for Haruka to spell things out for him; one glance at the ring was enough to see that he had chosen it for the same reason Makoto purchased his.

"I really love it. You definitely picked the right one."

"I'm glad."

Now he hoped Haruka would love his ring just as much as Makoto did his. He looked over to the box he had nearly smashed through the kotatsu. "I actually didn't plan on giving you this until New Year's, when the album was supposed to be done," he began, rubbing his thumb over the soft material as he grabbed the little box, "But I guess I might as well give it now."

He began to open it, but before the ring could be revealed, Haruka covered it with his hand and pushed the lid back shut. "Wait," he urged. When he saw Makoto's frown, he elaborated, "Finish it. Finish the album like you intended."

There was no real reason to keep it a secret, since he had gone and spoiled his plans to Haruka anyway. He would probably still finish the book, but as an engagement gift rather than a proposal. That bridge was already crossed.

He opened his mouth to object, but Haruka spoke first. "Propose to me like you intended," he continued, "You put so much effort into it, and I want to experience it the way you meant it."

"That's impossible. I wanted to surprise you-"

"You still can," Haruka insisted, "Even if I know when and how you're going to propose, that doesn't make it any different. I always knew that you would propose to me eventually and to be quite honest, when you said that you were making a photo album, I got a little suspicious."

That made Makoto pause. "Wait, you already knew?"

"I didn't _know_ ," Haruka quickly assured upon seeing the crestfallen look on his face, "I just… had a hunch."

Whether Haruka knew about it earlier or not, fact was that he knew about it before his plan was executed. It was all the same; no use crying over spilled milk. "Is that why you suddenly wanted to make the painting on my back? Because you wanted to make sure you proposed to me before I could ask you?"

"No. I actually planned to propose to you on New Year's Eve too," Haruka said amusedly, "But then this morning I suddenly woke up with the feeling that I should do it today, so I did. In hindsight, that was a good thing because otherwise our plans would have collided."

Haruka was right. Makoto probably wouldn't have wanted him to make a painting on his back if his body was buzzing with nerves, counting down the minutes until he would present the scrapbook to Haruka.

Besides that, Makoto was also glad that Haruka did it today. Although he was a bit bummed out that his own plan wouldn't go as he had dreamed, he really wouldn't have wanted to miss out on Haruka's amazing proposal. He hadn't seen it coming at all and it meant so much; today was going down in history as one of the best days of his life.

"Wait," he repeated, "is that why you made green curry tonight? And why you let me sleep in and brought a chocolate cake from the store? And why you peeled the tangerines?"

The sunset of colour that blossomed on Haruka's cheeks confirmed that was indeed the case. "I wanted to make today as special as possible for you…"

Makoto's heart spontaneously began to sing with affection for his adorable soulmate and he couldn't suppress a chuckle of sheer joy. "I see, so you were just warming me up to your proposal, huh?"

Haruka scoffed at that. "As if I had to."

Knowing that more teasing was surely burning on the tip of Makoto's tongue, Haruka brought the conversation back to its roots. To the point he wanted to make.

"Even if I know that you're going to propose, I still don't know what's inside the album, what you made of it. That will definitely surprise me."

"Alright," Makoto complied, lips curling up at Haruka's considerateness. He hoped that his little collection would mean as much to Haruka as Haruka's painting did to him, and he couldn't wait to find out. Though it seemed like adjustments would have to be made to his original layout. "Speaking of which," he said as he searched for his phone on the floor, "Plans have changed; there is one more memory that has earned its place in my album."

When he waved around his phone suggestively, Haruka smiled at what had almost become a routine in their daily lives. He took the phone from Makoto's hand and scooted closer to him on the floor, wrapping his arm around his waist. Makoto leaned his head against his and lifted his hand to flash the camera his engagement ring as well as the biggest smile his face had ever sported.

A few kisses were shared between pictures, the rush of bliss living on in every fiber of his being. Once Haruka deemed there to be enough taken, Makoto grabbed the phone and lied back down to admire them all.

He felt so indescribably happy and it clearly showed on his face. Fondness and joy didn't just radiate off him, it did from his soulmate too: Haruka's eyes were twinkling and he wore an uncharacteristically wide smile. All was well in the world, because they had just made each other the happiest people in the universe, and they were only going to grow even happier from this point on.

As Makoto scrolled through the pictures, he eventually ended up at Haruka's proposal again. Seizing his chance, he took his time to appreciate every little detail of the painting and the meaning of the words, letting them sink in where they hadn't fully before.

"It really is so beautiful, Haru," he reiterated, for it seemed that the image only got more stunning with every passing second. "Can you show me your back?"

"Sure. At first I wanted to propose to you like that, but then I realised I couldn't go down on one knee or hold your ring if I did that," Haruka chuckled, and Makoto giggled along.

He scrunched up the back of the hoodie until the roll of fabric was at his shoulders, then he joined Makoto on the floor.

Seeing it in its full glory on his fiancé's back right in front of him made the painting even more emotionally charged. He ran his fingers over the characters of his name and they naturally strayed lower until his hand covered the word 'husband'. Along with the image depicted, reading his name and 'husband' in the same message was more than enough to get the waterworks going once more.

He tried his best to hold it in, and he decided to distract himself by kissing every character on Haruka's back. To complete the sentiment, he pressed a little kiss to the dolphin's snout afterwards.

"Beautiful," he sighed again, as it was the only word that came to mind. Haruka truly was the only person in the whole wide world who could still render him speechless.

Though he couldn't see it, a warm smile graced Haruka's lips. He turned around to face Makoto and wrapped his arms around his neck to draw him in for another kiss. And even if his own upper body remained to be bare, Makoto pulled the hoodie down and smoothed it over Haruka's back so he wouldn't get cold.

"How did you even come up with this?" he asked as he rubbed his hand over Haruka's spine.

Haruka shrugged. "The instant I decided I was going to propose to you, I knew I wanted to make a painting on your back. I wanted to do something that was personal to us, something that was small yet meaningful. It wasn't just going to be any painting, so I wanted to make sure I made it on the best canvas possible - I also liked the idea of making it on your back so that you'd feel me work the entire time yet have no clue what was going on."

A chuckle escaped Makoto's lips. It had certainly added to the element of surprise, that was undeniable. The only downside was that his proposal would eventually wash away as opposed to his album that they could preserve forever. Fortunately there were pictures to make up for that loss.

"I sketched out some ideas, and I decided on this design pretty early on; I wanted to make a painting that anyone would find pretty, yet that only we knew the deeper meaning of," Haruka explained, and he had done a great job at that. "The biggest struggle was definitely deciding on what I would write, though. I spent so much time thinking about it, but whenever I wrote something down, it just sounded so stupid and pretentious. I settled on this, mainly because I was running out of time and knew I would never find the right words anyway."

"Haru," Makoto uttered in bewilderment as Haruka averted his eyes. His hand found its way to Haruka's cheek, caressing his soft skin with his thumb to draw his attention back to himself. "You wrote down the right words. Any words you would have written would be the right words, because they come straight from your heart. Your feelings could never be stupid or pretentious."

"I knew you would say something like that…"

"Because it's true," Makoto swore, "What you wrote down means the world to me. Heck, just thinking about it is enough to make me cry again!"

Despite his insecurity, Haruka couldn't hold back a smile. "I'm glad. I know I'm not really good with words when it comes to things like this, but I wanted to tell you how I feel. I wanted to make it special and memorable."

It wasn't like Makoto didn't understand where Haruka was coming from: he had struggled with finding the right words for his feelings too, so he could only imagine how much hardship it gave Haruka. But these words were just perfect, because anything Haruka said to him in regards to their love would be just that.

"And you did," Makoto continued on, pressing his forehead gently against Haruka's, "Please don't doubt yourself so much. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate every last word you wrote. Thank you, Haru. For everything."

To conclude his expression of gratitude he pressed a long kiss to Haruka's lips, feeling them smile against his. Haruka tightened his arms around his neck as they lost themselves in each other for just a moment.

When their lips parted, Makoto nuzzled Haruka's nose with his. "I love you so, so much, Haru," he giggled, simply not able to contain his happiness.

"To the end of the universe and beyond?"

"More than I could ever put into words," Makoto emphasised, and they both laughed lightly.

"I love you too," Haruka whispered, brushing his nose gently over Makoto's to return the gesture. Inevitably, their lips were drawn back together like they always would by emerging affection and honeyed words.

It wasn't just love that was flowing through their veins, there was also excitement and a sense of relief. They were finally going to get married; their relationship wouldn't just be official in the rules of the universe, but also in the rules of humankind. They would be bound to each other not just by souls, hearts, and skin, but by law as well.

"Ah, I can't believe we're getting married!" Makoto gushed.

"Hold on," Haruka mumbled, pulling back slightly to look him in the eyes. "Who says that we're getting married?"

Makoto frowned, clearly taken aback. "You? You literally just asked me to marry you…?"

"Exactly," Haruka confirmed, but the stern mask he put on was already starting to crumble. "You are my fiancé, but I'm not yours; I haven't said yes to you yet."

Knowing just what he was playing at, Makoto grinned. "I don't think that's how it works, but fine. Is there a chance you'll say no to me then?"

"Who knows, I might," Haruka shrugged, biting his bottom lip briefly to stop himself from smirking too. "To increase your chances of me saying yes, you might want to make me salt-grilled mackerel beforehand."

"I see," Makoto nodded, rubbing his chin in faux understanding, "Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely keep that in mind." If he got to be Haruka's husband, then he'd gladly make salt-grilled mackerel every day. Anything for his love. "Oh, by the way," he said, reminded of something unrelated.

"What?"

"I was thinking," he mused, tucking a lock of hair behind Haruka's ear, "on our way back from Iwatobi, want to stop by an onsen? It's been a while since we last went, and I thought it would be nice. To celebrate our engagement."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Haruka covered Makoto's hand with his and kept it against his cheek, twining his fingers between his. " _If_ I accept your proposal, of course."

"Oh, you will," Makoto stated without a shred of doubt, "and then, when we get to Iwatobi, we're going to tell all our friends and family about our engagement and have a big party." He was so happy that he was urged to call up everyone who was dear to them right this instant, but this was something he'd rather tell them in person. Considering they were visiting next week, the wait wasn't too bad. "My mom is going to laugh so hard when she hears how you beat me to the proposal, though," Makoto giggled, vividly remembering how excited she had been when he told her about his plans.

"Wait." Suddenly recalling something, Haruka sat up. "When you asked your mom about the pictures for your album, did you tell her you were going to propose to me?"

"Yes," Makoto mumbled in confusion as he pushed himself up as well, "She wanted to know what I needed the pictures for, and honestly, I just had to tell someone otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to contain myself."

"And my mom? You said you got some pictures from my parents' too, right? Did you tell her too?"

"Well yeah, she also wanted to know why I needed them."

Haruka buried his face in his hands. "I told them I was going to propose to you too."

"No way!" Makoto blurted, "When did you tell them?"

"Somewhere in September, I think?"

"Me too!"

For a second, they just stared at each other in silence before they both burst out with laughter.

"And I talked to them about it more often after that too," Makoto howled, "Telling them how it was coming along, how much trouble I had with picking out a ring, how I was going to give the album to you on New Year's Eve, et cetera."

"So did I. Maybe not as frequently as you, but they asked me how things were going several times after that and I didn't notice anything."

"Me neither." He shook his head in incredulity. "I can't believe they knew the entire time!"

"At least they're good at keeping secrets," Haruka muttered with a slight shrug, biting his lip lightly as a huff of amusement left his nose.

"Yeah, and they probably had so much fun talking about us these past couple of months," Makoto mentioned, envisioning their mothers laughing at them while they were on the phone together. Knowing how well they got along, the chances of this exact scenario having played out were very high.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they had a betting pool," Haruka added, and Makoto snorted at the thought of it.

"Well, congrats to whoever put their money on you."

"If it comforts you, I would have put my money on you," he murmured sincerely, caressing Makoto's knee with his hand.

"Thanks," Makoto chuckled. Honestly speaking, he would have put his money on himself too, but he was glad to have lost that hypothetical bet. "But because you got to propose to me first, I think it's only fair that I get to read my vows first at our wedding."

"Deal."

To seal that agreement, Haruka leaned forward and pressed their lips together once more. Makoto's smile widened, and he imagined that it was the kiss at their ceremony; the kiss that would bind them to each other as husbands in front of their closest friends and family members.

Corny as it might have sounded, he had been fantasizing about their big day for so long now. From the venue and the flowers to the food and the cake to their suits and rings, he had considered nearly every option in the realm of possibilities. Yet, even after all that pondering, he still hadn't been able to decide on what he liked best. Knowing his soulmate, they'd probably end up having a beach wedding, but that was just fine with him. The place didn't matter; none of it truly mattered, as long as they both got to say 'I do'.

That didn't mean that he wasn't going to try his best to make that day as special as possible, though.

"Hey, Haru?"

"Hm?"

"Where was that beach where your aunts got married, when you were the ring-bearer?"

"Somewhere in Chiba, I think? Why?"

"Wouldn't it be nice to have our wedding there, too?" As soon as he spoke those words, it was already beginning to take form in his head. The venue was beautiful and despite him never having been there himself, he felt connected to it in a way he couldn't describe. Half of their start had happened there, and getting married at that very same location seemed so perfect. Like it was all full-circle. "We could have the ceremony at dusk, beneath a pergola wrapped in fairy lights that frames the sunset, and with little potted tangerine trees along the aisle, and afterwards we could have this big bonfire-"

Haruka covered Makoto's mouth with his hand to cut off his blabbering. "Before you plan our entire wedding right now, maybe you should focus on finishing your proposal first."

"You're right," Makoto breathed, smiling gently as he held Haruka's palm to his cheek, "Sorry, I'm just really excited about this."

His smile was mirrored. "I am too, but I don't want to think about it too much just yet," Haruka sighed, "My brain is still fried from my proposal so the thought of having to write my vows will definitely make me combust."

A light laugh bubbled up in Makoto's chest, knowing his soulmate was only joking a little. He completely understood him though; his own proposal wasn't done yet and with recent developments, he had some rewriting to do. Having to think about how to make his vows unique to everything he scribbled in his scrapbook yet remain true to his feelings for his soulmate surely wasn't an easy task. He best get the first part out of the way before piling more onto his plate, else he'd probably get overwhelmed sooner or later.

"We have plenty of time to think everything through," Haruka surmised, rubbing circles over Makoto's skin with his thumb. "For now, I just want to enjoy this."

Absolute fondness softened Makoto's face. For the so manyth time that night, Haruka was right. Imagining that special day still made his stomach tingle, but before he would be consumed with elation about their wedding, he should allow himself to bask in their proposals first. This feeling, like a ripe tangerine on a cold winter's day, was far too sweet not to be enjoyed to its fullest.

"Me too," he whispered, sneaking the tiniest of kisses onto Haruka's wrist and closing his eyes for just a moment. Then, he smiled cheekily. "If I recall correctly, you still owe me a hot bubble bath and a back-scrub."

"I do. Would you like to redeem that promise right now?" Haruka asked officially, with a twinkle of joy sparkling in his brilliant irises.

"I would like that a lot," Makoto replied just as formally. He closed the distance between their bodies to kiss Haruka, chastely yet with immense tenderness, after which he got up.

Before Haruka had the chance to push himself off the floor too, Makoto hooked his arms under his legs and back and scooped him up.

"Makoto!" Haruka yelped in surprise when he was lifted in the air and he reflexively clamped onto Makoto's neck, "What are you doing?"

"Practicing," Makoto explained with a grin, "I wouldn't want to drop you on our wedding night, now would I?"

"Would you ever want to drop me?" Haruka asked with a frown, but the slight tug of a smile at the corners of his mouth revealed that he liked this as much as Makoto did.

"No, and accomplishing that requires a lot of practice."

Haruka rolled his eyes at that, but once Makoto began to hum the wedding march, the inevitable smile broke through to grace Haruka's face like it always would. Resting his head against Makoto's shoulder, Haruka held on tightly to his soulmate. Makoto carried him over the threshold of the bathroom, where they would share their first bath as fiancés.

There were no concrete plans for their wedding yet, but as with every other milestone, it was bound to be incredibly sweet.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading this fic and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. This story has been an immense joy to write and it means a lot to me, so while I'm a bit sad that it's over, I'm really glad that it's complete and I can finally share it from start to finish with those who wish to read it. Thank you all for going on this journey with me, and I hope that you enjoyed it even a fraction of how much I enjoyed writing it.**

 **You can find me on Twitter, Tumblr, and Curious Cat as DatHeetJoella for more MakoHaru content and info about other MakoHaru fics of mine.**

 **Thank you once again, I hope to see you all again in the future, and I wish you a wonderful day! 3**


End file.
